Between Her and Them
by aisuruitachiwakoi
Summary: At the age of 16, Hinata is just the hottest babe in Konoha. Sasuke wants her, Gaara wants her, Neji wants her, Itachi wants her. Heck I WANT HER haha. Set after the defeat of Orochimaru. Rated M for language and later chaps. Warning! OOC
1. Chapter 1

AHAHAHAHAHAMOOOHAGAHAHAHA. Weird to the MAX.

Enjoy enjoy! My second one and its already completely different from the first one!

Oh yea, I do not own Naruto…yet. That is until I rule the world and change Naruto's name into NATHANIEL! Oh gosh…even I wouldn't do something that low. Oh yea, I HATE SAKURA. ---that's a period.

Anyhowies…enjoy!

OH I CHANGED HECKA STUFF! BUT THAT'S WHY THIS IS A FANFIC!

_Set 4 years after the whole chuunin exam and all the drama, this is a HinaXGaaXNejiXItaXSasu. In THIS STORY, Itachi didn't kill his clan, Sasuke however ran off to Orochimaru to gain power to surpass that of Itachi's and blah blah. Everythign else is still the same though! I'm a sucker for Hinata pairings and guess what? I'm trying to shove it all in one story. Well, toodles!_

Hinata sat at the table of the eloquent restaurant her family had made reservations at, just for the Uchiha family and her own. She knew what this was about. Old people do not just meet up with their families at a nice restaurant just to "hang out." No, Hinata knew better, old people gathered to talk about things that were serious and "important."

Hinata contemplated about walking away from the table and outside into the village. She's never even seen this restaurant before and would've doubted it existed if she wasn't there now. Although her 16 years in the village, she started to doubt whether she knew every single thing about Konoha. She started to glance around to see her relatives and the members of the Uchiha family. She guessed that this meeting was something that would decide the fate between the two clans. _It'd be rather funny if they met up just to declare each other as enemies. Hmm, how would the wrinkly and aged fight though? Throw their slippers at each other? _Hinata chuckled at that thought and continued to glance around the room.

She was sitting alone of course at her own table in the corner. It's been 4 years since she was a genin; a quiet and reserved girl she was back then. The motivator of her change would have to the blonde in which she's admired for SO many years. Although loud and obnoxious, Naruto's charismatic voice just made her jumpy and infatuated with what he had to say. _Too bad he never looked my way. Oh well, I got that 30 second shine during the chuunin exams so many years ago. _Hinata sighed as she remembered that Sakura had finally open up to Naruto and accepted him as more than a friend. That was of course after Sasuke's leaving. _Oh crap! UCHIHA Sasuke. That means that he should be…_Hinata's eyes stopped short as a pair of crimson eyes locked with hers from across the room. _Here. _

Yes, Uchiha Sasuke had returned to the village. Exactly two years ago when she first became a chuunin. In the very least, Sasuke had second thoughts about Orochimaru's "offer" and actually mutilated Orochimaru and his cronies with the power that Orochimaru gave him. (Oh the irony!) However, Sasuke did manage to find some scrolls that Orochimaru had written himself about the cursed seal that plagued his neck. He was able to remove it by sacrificing ten of Orochimaru's "bitches" (I'm sorry but that's what they are) along with the blood of the person who put the seal on him. He then left and came back to the village. There was a bustle of disagreements about what to do with him. Sasuke was a missing-nin after all. But he willfully took in the nasty comments just to stay in the village. He then trained to attain the title of ANBU as his brother had at a much younger age. However, he would have to serve under his brother since Itachi was captain of the ANBU team.

Ah yes, his brother. Itachi. When Sasuke had returned to the village, Itachi didn't say anything about his absence. More like he couldn't. Sasuke had left just so that he would become strong enough to fight him after all. That shows devotion on Sasuke's part to surpass his brother. Talking about Itachi, _Where the hell is he? Gah! I lost him already. Bet the adults are probably congratulating him on anything possible. _Sasuke looked around the room to look for his older brother. _Why the hell am I here? Why the hell is everyone here! Why the hell am I asking why everyone is here and not here and AHH! _Sasuke banged his head on the table which made the silverware fly up but then land perfectly back onto the table.

Sasuke had also chosen his table in the corner of the restaurant, so no one took notice of his self abuse just awhile ago. Sasuke had woke up to his mom's tapping and hearing her say,

"Sasuke, you have to get up early today. We are going to spend the day with the Hyuuga clan," her voice said softly as she pulled his blankets down. She smirked a little when she saw his "morning afflictions." Ah yes, her little boy was growing up after all.

Sasuke scanned around the room looking for her brother. He saw various people from his clan along with white-eyed people who were from the Hyuuga. He noticed one in particular that he would've probably fought with for the reason of nothing. Yes, it was the older Hyuuga that he knew of. Hyuuga Neji. To Sasuke's surprise, Neji didn't notice him. Or at least Sasuke didn't think Neji noticed him because he was turned away. Sasuke narrowed his eyes noticing that Neji was keeping a hard stare at something. Something to his left… Sasuke proceeded to turn his head to the left of Neji.

There was a couple who were making out to the max just to the left of Neji. _Oh gods…don't tell me he was staring at them. What a sick guy. _Sasuke scowled a bit seeing all the tongue action but his eyes caught something else that was to the left of Neji. It was a girl. A Hyuuga girl at that. Her frame was shaped very well into a woman's body but her wide angular face suggested that she was around his age. She had dark blue haired that were just a tad brighter than his own hair. The end of her hair reached at her mid waist which he could see from here were nicely curved. Her skin looked peach colored and very soft from across the room. He noticed she had her legs crossed over each other and Sasuke actually anticipated to wait until she unfolded them. To put it in short words, _Fuck she is hot,_ Sasuke thought. Sasuke continued to stare at her, but he wanted to see her full face. Her face was turned away looking elsewhere, maybe outside the window. But all of a sudden, Sasuke's onyx met with her pearl white eyes. _Shit._

_I actually planned to have everyone meet in the first chapter and go from there. I wanted to do something similar to that of Ironically Dramatic but I can never write that good of a story. Oh yea, read that too! Its a really good GaaHinaIta fanfic!_

_Plz review! _


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry you guys for not updating for sooo long! I promise I'll update more sooner now that I finally have Microsoft Office installed. And since its summer, I have all the time to write and update! But fanfiction's been having a problem uploading doc. formats so my buddy told me to put it on notepad and save it like that and then just edit it later!

But anyhowie, enjoy!

Neji was not at all amused at this "gathering" that the Branch House leader dragged him to. In fact, if he didn't have that little thing called "sanity," he would've grabbed the fork on the table and stab himself repeatedly as an excuse to leave the place. But as the caged little bird he was, he just couldn't say no to the request of his cousin, Hinata.

Neji thought back about how he got into this mess. Ah yes. It was all because of his gosh darn hormones. Those things never fail to get your butt into a jam. Who else would spark this "hidden" feeling that resided within him other than the person who he hated all of his life?

After the attack delivered by Orochimaru, which had left Konoha in quite a distress, Neji sought out to retie the bonds that were lost between him and Hinata. He felt, _What's that word?_ Guilty. Yes he felt guilty that he had taken out his anger and frustration on his timid cousin, and that it was for all the wrong reasons. So every while and then, he would greet her without the formal "sama" and just plain Hinata. Although the action was rather bold, he felt that she was feeling more comfortable around him. For his case, he too felt comfortable around her. The need to brush her hair away from her face, or the urge to bury his head in her long locks of velvet blue became hard to control. In fact, no one in particular would know about what he kept in his room but Neji himself.

Ever since he started feeling attracted to his cousin, he had kept a miniature doll of her. It was comprised of Hinata's hair trimming that he collected every time she trimmed away to get the stray strands gone. He would secretly go into her room right after she would leave to get a broom to clean up her mess and collect a few strands here and there to not attract suspicion. When Neji had an ample bundle to make Hina-chan (that's the name of the doll) have a bundle of hair without being noted as a receding hair liner, he sewed together the hair strands and attached it to Hina-chan's body which he shaped and sewed up himself. From that day on, every night for three years, Neji would fall asleep with Hina-chan in his arms.

So Neji technically did brush away the hair on Hinata's face, and buried himself in her long locks, just in the mildly eccentric way.

_ There she is, just as bored as I am. Maybe I should go sit at her table and start a conversation, Neji contemplated as his eyes shift towards his cousin's form._ Neji was about to stand up when he was unfortunately pulled back down by his own body. _What the heck! How come my butt hurts sooooo much right now!_ Neji yells inside as he slowly rubs his butt. _Stupid butt cramp; its all this stupid gathering's fault, it made me sit too long._ He then glances up again to check on Hinata and like before, she was still sitting there, gazing unknowingly at the guests. Neji took this chance to ogle at her perfect form.

_ Teehee, I was the first to see what was under the coat. Ah I love our training sessions! It gets way too hot for her to continue fighting me under such a bulky jacket._ Neji smirked as he remembered their first time training together on good terms three years ago.

_ "So Hinata-san, what did you want to work on?" Neji asks as he stares coldly at the small petite form in front of him._

_ "I-I'm not s-sure…well w-what did y-you want to w-work on Neji-nii san?" Hinata asks as she looks down at the beautiful brown dirt. Neji sighed heavily and felt like banging his head against a tree. He had always hated her stuttering, not only did she make it hard to hear her because she was so quiet but the stuttering didn't help at all._

_ "I got an idea, let's work on your damn stutter. It's freakin' annoying to hear and work with," Neji rubbed the back of his head and quirked his mouth before continuing, "lets also work on your conversational skills. You won't even look at me while I'm talking to you. How the hell am I suppose to help you get stronger if I can't communicate with you. Not to mention, you're starting to make me feel ugly, I'd rather reserve that for when Lee or Gai looks at me." Neji lightly smiled as he heard the soft giggling of Hinata while she raised her eyes to meet his._

_ "A-Alright, I'll try Neji-nii san," Hinata says as she steps away from him to get into a fighting stance._

_ "Ok, then. I'm going to start attacking so try and stay red alert as much as possible," Neji huffed out before charging straight at her. They continued their training until Hinata asked for Neji to wait for a minute. Neji complied and sighed as he believed that she just wanted to rest. "She had much more endurance than this during out match at the Chuunin exams," Neji thought to himself. He was about to comment when he felt a kunai fly right by his cheek, just barely grazing the first layer of skin and hit the tree behind him a few feet away._

_ "Neji-nii san, y-you should p-pay attention more," Hinata said as she chuckled to herself._

_ Neji was shocked at how he had dropped his guard and shouted, "Well, you're the one who wanted to-" he stopped mid-sentence as he realized she was only in her fish net top. He noticed her discarded jacket next to her feet and raised his eyes to her again. He felt blood rush to his cheeks as he realized that if he sparred more with her, he might accidentally bump into one of those firm mounts known as her chest. Neji felt more blood rush but this time, it wasn't to his cheeks. Out of frustration, he launched his attack on her rapidly and tried assaulting her with kicks and blows which did not hit her at all because of his distracted state._

_ Hinata taking notice of this grasped his right arm and with all the strength she had threw him to the ground. Neji tried to quickly get up before realizing that Hinata was pushing him into the ground with his face in the dirt. Neji struggled but stopped as he realized extra padding pushing into his back. That's when he realized that to keep him from getting back up Hinata had to apply her full body on him because she couldn't keep him down with her arms alone. He turned his head to the right to say something when Hinata lowered her head next to his ear, her bangs tickling his neck, and whispered, "Neji-nii san, you l-lose."_

_ Following that, Neji forcefully sent Hinata flying and runs back to the Hyuuga compound. He goes straight to the showers and makes sure the temperature doesn't go above fifty degrees._

Neji stops recalling the event as he realized his eyes were still on Hinata. He was about to walk up, without a butt cramp, when she got up herself.

Yea this one was dedicated to Neji. I want to develop their characteristics for each of the guys and have a history about them. So expect this fic to be somewhat long.

And THANK YOU SOO MUCH FOR ALL THE REVIEWS! The more I see, the more I feel bad about not updating and the more I feel bad the more I want to update. So keep on reviewing you guys! Thank you soo much!

OH yea! I just finished my SasuHina drawing for my buddy Vegetapr69 who wrote the amazing fic, The Thin Line Between Love and Hate.

http/ check it out! Thank you!


	3. Chapter 3

Kagome and Hinata72995- i just did Kichou- yup! itachi's in this chapter alright! now i just have to include gaara soon! Alpha Minstrel- yea i was trying to make neji seem obsessed with hinata. after all he was givin the 

order to protect her. maybe a little too obsessed...

streetboarder- no problemo! thank you for reviewing! Lems- hahaa. aren't we all! thanks for the dev. watch! you have a great gallery too! hurleysuki- yea, i really wanted to portray neji as the closet pervert he is! i really think he is! 

cmon! if you had byakugan, i swear i'd be staring at all the bath houses in konoha!

summer-loven-2- i actually had a butt cramp sitting in front of the computer so that's why i put it 

there!

thank you guys for reviewing! i'm so excited to continue writing my story! enjoy!

* * *

_I should've remembered that Sasuke would be here. After all he is an Uchiha…_Hinata thought as her eyes were still locked with the crimson eyes that belonged to the Uchiha Sasuke. 

Hinata had never really known Sasuke. She can recall the fact that she's never spoken to him ever in the past or that she paid much attention to him in the least. All the girls in their village created a lake just drooling over him with her as the exception. She always thought that he was sort of crude and vain and how he treated his fan girls didn't improve her impression of him at all.

She was weak back then, in the academy years and prior to that. Sasuke was a person who preyed on people's weaknesses and she did not want to be affiliated with people like him. She'd rather spend time with people who actually lifted her self-esteem, hence the crush on Naruto for years. But she did have a few opinions on the young Uchiha.

Like a few of the people in Konoha thought, she thought Sasuke was homosexual as well. Who could resist the busty body of Sakura's (who Naruto obviously couldn't resist) and the sultry face of Ino's (I can't think of anyone who likes Ino). Not to mention that he shooed away all the girls that attempted to approach him which was basically his fan club. She learned early in her years that all males had to undergo hormonal growth when they reached their teen years and would start needing the comforts that their desired would be able to offer. She saw Naruto pine after Sakura, and yet Sasuke would spend most of his time with Naruto than Sakura. So she assumed that Sasuke wanted comfort from Naruto and therefore he likes guys.

But she didn't really care about those things anymore, she was naïve and youth brought out the worst in people's opinions. Sasuke was sitting across the room from her and staring straight at her at the moment and she didn't think he was quite so gay anymore. Yes she thought he was a little whacko when he went off to train with Orochimaru for three years but with him returning with the head of Orochimaru was quite impressive. Hinata had still wanted to better herself since she actually planned to register for ANBU quite soon and her strength and wits was all that mattered to her right now. Sasuke would be her teacher and she would try and befriend him from now on.

Hinata rose from her seat and started to steadily walk over to where Sasuke sat. She still hadn't broken her eye contact with Sasuke who now had his chin resting on the palm of his hand with his eyes still glaring at her. She caught a little stain appearing on Sasuke's cheeks as she approached him and believed that a little bit of heat had gotten to him. As her foot steps stopped right in front of him at the side of his table, she asked, "May I sit here?"

Sasuke was a little shocked that the Hyuuga girl had caught him staring at her. She was probably a fan girl that finally caught site of him and wanted to desperately "get to know him." Sasuke settled for an apathetic grunt since he didn't mind having this certain fan girl sit next to him since she wasn't bad looking. If she got too loud and obnoxious, he would just leave the table.

"So you probably think I'm one of your rabid fan girls, but I assure you that I am not," Hinata spoke firmly. This caused the Uchiha to quirk an eyebrow up, showing some surprise but very little even though in his mind, he was quite astonished. "I'm not here to get to know you or get into your pants as how many girls would like to do, although I do not know why, but I am here to ask you if you can do me a favor." Hinata said softly even though she was getting a little bit frustrated with his silence. _Was this how nii-san felt every time he spoke to me back then? I feel like banging my head against the wall. Hinata gave a small but forced smile._

Sasuke was doubtful. _She could be a really good acting fan girl who wants to trap me somewhere and have their way with me. shudders I've never met a girl who has yet to not want me._ Well, let's have a go at it. "It would be rude to not mention your name first before asking a favor from me," Sasuke said with a following grunt. He now had his head placed on both hands which were folded in mid-air. (Imagine Mr. Burns) His blood stained eyes that he had worked so long to attain was questioningly staring at the petite girl sitting to his left.

"Ah, sorry. My name is Hyuuga Hinata, and I am the daughter of Hyuuga Hiashi, whom is speaking to your father right now I believe. And no need to tell me who you are, Mr. Uchiha Sasuke," Hinata said sarcastically giving a light chuckle.

_Hah! She knows me! So she IS a fan girl! I almost bought her act!_ "So what is this favor that you want me to do for you so badly, I can most definitely tell you that going on a date is not on any list of mine," Sasuke said with a little annoyance in his voice. _Gah! How hard is it to get through his thick skull that I'm not a fan girl! Soooo thick, like I just want to_-Hinata took her tightly clenched fist and brought it down on Sasuke's head who, at this had his eyes closed with his head still resting on his hands.

Sasuke was about to open his eyes and see why the girl had yet to reply, thinking, _No reply, that means that what I just said_- at that moment, Sasuke felt his head bang forcefully on the table so hard that the impact caused him to choke out some of his saliva.

In his state of shock, "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT FOR YOU H-" Sasuke stopped himself as he noticed that he had become the main center of attraction inside the restaurant. He just huffed and sat himself back down rubbing the bump on his forehead that was now visible to the Hyuuga heiress. She giggled at the site of him in anger just making the bump hurt more even though he thought it might stop the swelling.

"I guess your head isn't as thick as I thought it was…" Hinata found herself laughing just a little bit more at his situation.

"Why the HELL did you do that? Aren't you suppose to want to keep my face as nice as it is!" Sasuke said angrily through clenched teeth. Hinata shifted in her chair and brought her fingers through her locks of velvet blue in frustration.

"That's only IF I was a fan girl of yours, to which I need to remind you AGAIN that I am not one! But if you seem to have such difficulties believing me, I guess I could ask your brother to do my favor for me," Hinata said while looking through the restaurant. Although she didn't know it, this struck the attention of Sasuke as to how he was always competing with his brother.

"What's the favor?" Sasuke said now eager to learn what it is that could possible make her resort to Itachi.

It was now Hinata's turn to raise a brow, seeing as how Sasuke was now so eager to accept her favor. Competition against his older brother? Hmm, I could use that to my advantage in the future. She slid back against her chair and crossed her leg with her arms folder across her chest. If anyone came to her view, they would think she was in a deep thought. With her eyes closed, Hinata replied, "I'm quite sure you are aware of the ANBU team since you are a member of it. And you recently were just accepted into it," Hinata opened her eyes to see Sasuke's calm but amused visage. Hinata cleared her throat, "I was wondering if maybe you can train me so that I will be accepted into it?" There she said it. That wasn't so hard was it Hinata? Ask the person who doesn't even know you and the person whose head you just banged on the table. Hinata looked over to see Sasuke's reaction, only to find him with his eyes closed. _Did he fall asleep on me! I'm going to give him another head bang so hard that Orochimaru's dead head is going to feel sorry for him!_ Hinata was actually going to go through with her threat when she heard Sasuke start.

"So you want ME to train YOU so that YOU can make it into ANBU? And why the hell would I go through with this favor when you just publicly humiliated me just right now? Use your brain Hinata-SAN," Sasuke said with a glint of amusement looking at her shifting expressions. Hinata sighed.

"If you won't, that's no problem. After all, it is just a little favor I'm asking," Hinata said gleefully before getting out of her chair and starting to walk away. Sasuke sat there, confused. Wait what just happened?

"Wait!" Sasuke shouted to Hinata who didn't walk so far because she knew that he would ask her questions.

"Yes, Sasuke-SAN?" Hinata stated. She felt a smirk coming along, come on Sasuke, I know you want to know.

Sasuke actually wanted to murder himself right now. _Why the hell do I want to know why she has no problem with it! I should be happy to rid myself of her presence. _"So you really don't have a problem with me rejecting your offer?" Sasuke said quietly as Hinata sat her self down on the same chair to the left of him.

Hinata smiled sweetly at him, "Nope. No problem, I'll go ask the captain of the ANBU team himself."

With that, Sasuke had to retort, "Hah. And what would make you think he would agree with that? He doesn't even know you." He felt he had an upper hand here. "You came to me because you're afraid to approach Itachi and-"

"Who's afraid to approach me?" came a voice from behind Hinata. She let out a little gasp that was barely audible, as if it weren't there in the first place. Both the young teens turned their attention the possessor of the voice and saw standing there, the respected captain of the ANBU team.

Hinata stood up and greeted the handsome ninja, "Hello Itachi-san. I was having a small discussion with your brother here who seemed to have declined my offer. I guess I should be heading back to my table-"

"I didn't say I wouldn't do it!" Sasuke interrupted seeing as how Hinata would ask Itachi in replace of him. _Wait…Itachi-san? Do they know each other?_

"What was the offer Hinata-san?" Itachi said quietly as he sat himself down next to Hinata. Rather closely as Sasuke noted, their bodies were probably five inches away from each other.

"It was nothing that you need to worry yourself with now that Sasuke-san seems to have accepted it," Hinata said with a warm smile, trying to steer the discussion elsewhere.

Itachi seeing this and despising the fact that Sasuke was offered something from Hinata and HE didn't KNOW about it made him more persistent. "I'm sorry my services couldn't have been of any help to you Hinata-san," Itachi said as if his heart was broken to make Hinata go back on her words.

Hinata saw his downcast eyes and felt immediately sorry for him, "Oh it's not like that Itachi-san! I just don't want to bother you much since you are a captain, you must be very busy!" Itachi saw this as his chance, "I'd be willing to change my schedule if it is to assist you in anyway Hinata-san," Itachi says warm-heartedly. Hinata gave him a warm, to which he gave a smile back.

"Well then maybe you can train me instead-"

"I'm still here you know! And I told you that I will train you!" Sasuke felt very impatient at the fact that he had been completely ignored for the majority of their conversation. "And how the hell do you even know her Itachi!" Sasuke had felt that he was cheated out of getting to know a beautiful girl who was not in his fan club first than his brother. He felt even angrier when he heard light chuckles from both Hinata and Itachi. "Quit laughing at ME!" Sasuke yelled not even bothering to mask his anger.

This of course brought out more laughter from the heirs to the Hyuuga and Uchiha clan. "Hinata-san and I have known each other for a couple of years now little brother. I trained her," Itachi said while looking at Hinata reassuringly. _What! He trained her! As always I lose to him, again. Wait! I can still train her! Itachi doesn't know of it yet._

"So Hinata-san, I have all the free time to ASSIST you with your training for your admittance into ANBU," Sasuke said trying to sound reserved like Itachi did. This surprised Itachi as he looked back at the Hyuuga heiress.

"You want to join ANBU Hinata-san?" Itachi said turning his head to one side. Hinata felt a blush coming along and tried stopping it. Itachi had always made her feel smaller when she was under his cold gazes, and to this very day she still hasn't learn to get out of that habit.

"Umm…y-yes. I was p-planning to j-join ANBU if y-you don't m-mind," Hinata left the sentence with a squeak and averted her eyes to the ground. Both brothers looked questioningly at her wondering why the sudden change in her attitude. _This is embarrassing! He's the CAPTAIN of the ANBU team and here I am stuttering my ass off. What's gotten into me, this stuttering should've been gone! Gone I say!_ Hinata tried raising her eyes back to Itachi only to find her self looking at his strong pale neck instead of his eyes.

"You know Hinata-san you told me awhile back that Neji-san was giving you conversational skill training, and that he taught you how to look directly at people's eyes while you're talking to them…is it possible if you can do that now?" Itachi said forcefully even though he was trying to help the girl.

Sasuke had cut in. He really felt that he was being left out. "Hinata-san," Sasuke said while slamming his hand on the table to get her attention. When her pale eyes met his, his breath almost hitched at how vulnerable she looked. _Did my brother have this effect on her?_ _She beats me when I speak to her and she stutters when she's around my brother…OH HEAVENLY MOOGLY GOOGLY! SHE LIKES…SHE LIKES HIM!_ "As I was saying Hinata-san, if you would like to start soon I would not mind. In fact, why don't we have a go at it at the training grounds right now? It'd be much more interesting than this boring meeting," Sasuke suavely said to allure Hinata his direction.

"Oh! That would be great! I was actually contemplating leaving. Itachi-san, would you like-" Hinata was cut short by Sasuke.

"Also when we're training, it'd best be if there were no distractions," Sasuke said smirking at his brother who was glaring kunais at him.

"Oh but Itachi-san wouldn't be a distraction to me! He's trained me before and-" yet again she was cut short by him.

"I meant as a distraction to m-" Sasuke was now cut short by Itachi.

"It's very rude to keep interrupting the young lady like that little brother, have I not taught you any manners?" Itachi said smiling at Hinata who was now giggling at the image of an older brother giving lessons to a younger brother like Sasuke.

"Ok then. It's settled. Lets head off before anyone notices that we're gone," Hinata said winking at both brothers before getting up from her seat. She took both her hands and held Itachi's arm to get him up. "Come on Itachi-san! I can't wait to show you how much I've improved!" Hinata said while pulling Itachi through the restaurant with an angry Sasuke following after them.

_ Still the young child so many years ago aren't you Hinata-chan?_ With this, Itachi smiled while letting himself be pulled out of the restaurant by the Hyuuga heiress.

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So how was it? I'll be revealing Itachi and Hinata's past in the next chapter. Also, Sasuke stated that Hinata likes Itachi but that's just his overview on it. It will all come together. Don't worry! Oh and Neji will be stalking them. You also have to remember that their families met for a reason and they left too early to find out what it was exactly that was suppose to happen! Oh and Gaara would make his appearance in the next few chapters. I don't want to have him show up out of nowhere, I want to develop the plot a little more!

But anyhowzers, read and review! Thank you!


	4. Chapter 4

hiyo again you guys! this is me, aisuruitachiwakoi! i'm so glad that many people are enjoying my story!

lems- i don't mean for sasuke to sound like a brat but this is the situation in where he never faced tragedy so he isn't the dark scary type. he's still a loner though but he'll mature throughout the story. our precious hinata will make sure of that.

LaDyPnAi - will do

True Phantom- i want to know what happens too

AZNgirlQT- you shouldn't listen to sad songs then! but i'm glad my story can cheer you up. if i can write something that can affect people like that, it gives me a nice feeling. thanks!

Kichou- i do adore ItaHina pairings more since there are less of them. but i'm not quite sure who i will end this story with because i have to still introduce gaara which will be the next chapter. hinata will develop feelings for all these guys...

oztan- i'm sorry but i can't assure you that hinata will end up with sasuke. right now, i got many readers thinking it'll be itachi with hinata but who knows...this story will be pretty long. i want to make it like Laundry Detergent's Ironically Dramatic.

Mareno mikato- it's actually a HinaXNejiXItaXSasuXGaa i just haven't involved the others much yet. i will soon though!

Qii-chain - i know! go hinata! i want to make her more mature and much stronger in this story. thank yee

Kagome and Hinata72995- i will! in fact, i am right now!

thank you for all your reviews you guys! you are what keeps me writing! so please keep those reviews coming in you guys!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto...just a cosplay of Itachi and a couple of posters.

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Sasuke couldn't help but scowl as he saw Hinata pull her brother through the crowds with her. _I should be happy; she's not a fan girl. I SHOULD be HAPPY; she's not jumping all over me. Of course not, she's jumping all over my brother! _

"Sasuke-san?" pulling him out of his reserve, he looked up to see Hinata staring at him with his brother to her side raising an eyebrow towards him.

"Hm?" Sasuke said trying to not scowl.

"I forgot to ask if you were hungry or anything. We left the restaurant before they served the food and…I'm sorry, that was a bit hasty for me to do," Hinata said apologetically looking Sasuke directly in the eye. Sasuke is feeling that this girl is surprising him a lot today. _She sure is acting nice, probably due to the fact that Itachi's around._

"I'm fine. Besides, it isn't smart to fight on a full stomach Hinata-san," Sasuke folded his arms at that. "Not to mention, if we stick around the crowds in this village-"

at that exact moment, a horde of females surrounded Sasuke and he found him self underneath many raging bodies. "Ah! GET THE HELL OFF OF-"

"Sasuke-kun! You look nice today!"

"Sasuke-kun! Let me treat you out to lunch!"

"Sasuke-kun! Be my boyfriend!"

Sasuke-kun, Sasuke-kun! That was all Itachi and Hinata were hearing as they watched the poor boy attempt to fight his way out of his lusty fan girls. _He went away for three years and was able to kill Orochimaru, but he can't get out of a simple dog pile from his fan girls?_ Hinata had to question herself on her judgment. _He's suppose to train me to be accepted into ANBU… why didn't any of Sasuke's enemy just summon up a pack of girls and they would've had him in the bag by now. _

Hinata sighed as Itachi couldn't help but feel pity for his brother. _How embarrassing…_He was grateful he didn't have such a rabid fan club. Sure Itachi had his own fan club. How wouldn't he? On any account, Itachi had the same handsome looks that his brother held, and maybe even more handsome features. Girls tried to pine after him but he of course was different from his brother. He never made his appearance often in public so he didn't give many chances for girls to see him that often. If they did, they would never forget a face like his. _Good thing I don't walk around the village a lot. Stupid brother. _Itachi wasn't nervous at the fact that he made his appearance right now in public; no girl would go after him when there was his brother first. Sasuke would be his little shield that would attract all the girls before they got to the real gold. Besides, Hinata was beside him and she was holding onto his arms. If anyone looked at the two, they would believe that they were a couple. To this, Itachi smirked.

_That'd be pleasant if everyone thought that we were couple. If the real thing happened, it wouldn't surprise much people then. _Itachi looked to his side to see the one person whom he will take a kunai for. (He wouldn't take it for Sasuke; he'd be the one throwing the kunai at him.) _I'm glad we met…_

_6 years ago…_

"_Nii-san, wake up!" Itachi awoke to the sound of his little ten year old brother shaking him awake. "Mom said to wake you up early so we can meet with the Huugo clan." Sasuke said jumping on top of Itachi._

_Itachi stifled a yawn and shoved Sasuke off of him. "You mean the Hyuuga clan?" Itachi said while getting out of bed and stretching out his rested body. Sasuke was rubbing his head back and forth during this time, complaining about how Itachi was being mean to him a lot lately. Itachi was only three years older than Sasuke, but his maturity level was not to be questioned. "Alright then, get out of my room, I need to get ready."_

"_Ok nii-san! Hurry up before I beat you to it!" an excited little Sasuke said. He then ran out of the room and towards his room to get ready himself._

_When he finished, he walked out of his room to the kitchen to greet his mother with a formal 'good morning.' _

"_Itachi, I made breakfast, did you want to eat before we head out?" Mikoto said while pouring tea into a cup and setting it down in front of him._

"_It's fine kaa-san, I don't have an appetite this morning," Itachi said carefully sipping the tea. "Where's tou-san?"_

"_He had a meeting with someone outside the village so he went to the Hokage's office this early morning to greet the guest. He won't be able to make it to our meeting with the Hyuugas but that'll be fine. Besides, where's that little brother of yours?" Mikoto said pouring another cup of tea to set it down besides Itachi's. _

"_I'm right here kaa-san! Ah no! Itachi finished before me! Why do you have to beat me in everything?" Sasuke whined as he sat himself down next to Itachi._

"_Why do you always have to lose in everything?" Itachi said calmly taking another sip of his tea._

"_Boys, if you're like that at the Hyuuga compound, when we get back, I'll show you who the REAL Uchiha genius in this household is!" Mikoto said while slamming the tea kettle onto the stove top._

_Sasuke gulped at his mother's ferocity and Itachi just remained quiet. "Kaa-san sure is scary today, you think she has her monthly 'issues' right-" all of a sudden, Sasuke felt hot, steaming liquid pour all over his hand. "AHHHH! It BURNS!" _

"_Oh! I'm so sorry sweetie! I was trying to refill your cup when I accidentally spilled it on your hand," Mikoto said trying to sound sweet while wiping Sasuke's hand down with a wet rag. _

"_It's ok kaa-san…" Sasuke said with wide eyes, remembering to not tick off his mom in the future anytime soon. Of course, Itachi on the side noted that Sasuke didn't take one sip from his cup. _

"_Alright boys, let's go," Mikoto said taking their cups and putting it in the sink._

_They head out following their mother to the Hyuuga compound which looked very similar to that of their compound. They were greeted by white eyed people at the gates who let them pass, noting that they're from the Uchiha clan. When they went into the compound, the guard led them to the biggest house on the estate where they were greeted by another white eyed person but it was a lady this time. _

"_Mikoto-chan! Welcome to the Hyuuga estate, I'm so glad to see you today!" the lady said while giving Mikoto a hug. _

"_Same with you, it's been awhile," Mikoto replied. "These are my two boys, Itachi and Sasuke," she said while directing her arm towards Itachi and Sasuke's position behind her._

"_Hello," they both said in unison with a formal bow._

"_Oh my how mannerly of them! Hello you two," the lady said. "Well, I shouldn't keep you guys out of the house, follow me," she said while leading them into their home._

_When they arrived at what seemed like the living room, they sat themselves down, with Sasuke and Itachi yet again, sitting behind Mikoto. "I wish I had a few boys of my own but that unfortunately didn't happen. But this is my daughter Hanabi, she is the youngest of my daughters as to where I don't know where the eldest is currently at the moment," the lady said looking embarrassed and presenting a little girl much younger than both of them. The little girl named Hanabi bowed and said 'hello,' blushing when Itachi and Sasuke introduced themselves. Their mother continued talking about the nothings of the day; the children from both clans seemed bored out of their minds until finally Itachi decided to fake his way out. _

_"I'm sorry to say this to you mother and Hyuuga-san, but as you know I am captain of the ANBU team and I have a meeting with our Hokage-sama later this afternoon, if I may please excuse myself," Itachi said in a very mature tenor. His mother was smarter than that and knew that he was making a lie to get out of this. She was about to comment when Hanabi's mother commented first._

_"I am so sorry, but of course you can go," she said with a warm smile. Itachi nodded and left, not even bothering to look at Sasuke who also pleaded to get out of this._

_Itachi made his way through the route that they had come in. However, his curiosity got the better of him and he found himself wandering around. He kept walking and decided that it was time to head out before he got caught when he heard rapid breathing followed by strained grunts._

_He followed the noise to what seemed like a small training ground that the Hyuuga had on their estate. They were of a very powerful clan so it was not unusual to see this. However, it is unusual to see a young girl about the same age as Sasuke beating the crap out of a tree with her bare palms. Her ebony hair bounced up and down as she punched the tree with impressive truculence. Dark, thick blood manifested itself on pale skin that came into contact with the rough bark. A pathetic scene like this disgusted the Uchiha heir but he continued watching as she would beat the tree and fall down. She repeated this process many times before he approached her._

_"You know, beating a tree senseless doesn't make you any stronger, it just makes your endurance higher. You don't gain any new talent or skills," he said crouching down to the young girl who was now on the ground trying to catch her breath. _

_"I-I don't k-know any…anyway to get b-better. N-no one l-likes me so I c-can't train w-with a-anybody e-else," the little girl said while droplets of tears made their way to the ground. "I'm j-just, too w-weak!" she screamed while lunging herself at Itachi. He found himself holding her by her shoulders while she let away her tears on him. It was an awkward feeling to have by holding something so frail in your arms. _

_"If you're so weak, then why is that tree about to crack in half from all your beating?" Itachi asked while rubbing circles on the back of the girl. This caused the little girl to look up at him and then she realized she just hugged and cried to a complete stranger. She instantly wiped away her tears and bowed her head to the ground._

_"I'm so s-sorry! P-please forgive m-me!" she said without even looking up at him. He looked at her with his usual cold gaze. She looked so small and fragile, but she did a good number on that tree though. Quite impressive for a crying little girl who complains that she's too weak. He went down and picked her and set her on his lap while he sat cross-legged. This startled the little girl but she soon found herself enjoying his embrace and buried her head into the crook of his neck. He use to do this often with Sasuke when they were both younger but this little girl who is the same age as Sasuke, seemed like she is still the same age as the little boy who use to sit on his lap many years ago._

_"If you have no one at your home that wants to train with you, would it be much of a bother to train with me?" Itachi asked tilting the little girl's chin up, making sure that he gets a good look at her features and facial expressions. She of course was blushing madly with some tears still at the corner of her eyes. She tried turning away from his dark ebony gaze, but his finger held her face in place._

_"W-wait! I d-don't even k-know what y-your name is," the little girl said quietly still looking at Itachi's eye with embarrassment. _

_"I am Uchiha Itachi, and I am the genius of our Uchiha clan. I'm telling you this so that you can be assured that your efforts will not go to waste," Itachi stated monotonously. The little girl gave him a light smile and wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes away with hands that were now scabbed with blood. _

_"I a-am H-Hyuuga H-Hinata, nice to m-meet you U-Uchiha-san," Hinata trailed off while still keeping eye contact with him. Itachi arose from sitting on the ground and brought her up to stand on her own. He then placed a hand on top of her blue locks and quietly whispered, "Just call my Itachi, Hinata-san."_

_From that day forward, Itachi and Hinata found themselves in the evening training long into the night. No one knew about their secret rendezvous and they continued their training for nearly two years until Hiashi found out and said it was unseemly that Hinata couldn't train herself as Itachi did. He forbade her to train with him because he stated that she needed to learn on her own. This had upset Itachi but Hinata pleaded with him to not take any actions. Not to mention that Hinata would also have a team that she was expected to train and do missions together with. _

_Itachi actually enjoyed the times that he and Hinata spent training and working on new moves together. It would be the closest thing he had to being social and he took it in willingly. Hinata was much more talkative than he imagined but he loved her rants about her past and what she personally liked and not liked. He found himself sometimes telling the little girl a little about himself, even though in small portions. He couldn't find it in his heart to trust people so easily but he started to slowly trust his young disciple here. He wished that they would be able to do this for awhile but Hiashi finding out did not please him. Though, he had to let her go, in some sense and her time would now be much more divided seeing as how she would make genin soon and start her life as a ninja. _

_It's not like much will change, I will go back to doing my missions with my ANBU team. I just won't have much to do in the evenings now…Itachi thought. Life presumed normally for Itachi who felt even emptier than he did before he met with Hinata. He really longed for her presence that she once gave him for it provided him delight after he would come back from the daily arduous missions he would receive. He had a taste of the delight that she provided, and now he desperately wanted it back. _

_Itachi didn't realize that his chance to be with her again would reappear only months later after his brother's departure to Orochimaru. She came to visit him to ask if he wanted to spar or to just simply walk around the village with her. To which he complied happily. Itachi remembered her asking if he could train with her again for she wanted to really try harder at the next chuunin exams, and he replied that he still could. _

_So they trained during the evenings like they did months ago, and this time, Hiashi couldn't stop Hinata now that she was able to stand her ground. So as the trainings and years went by, Itachi noticed just how beautiful Hinata became. She had always been timid and bashful but now she held more confidence. In which he found out that she had been learning lessons from her cousin Neji, which brought a scowl to his face. That was when he realized that he held feelings for her. That he wanted her to stay next to him and him only and just staying teacher and student wouldn't be sufficient for him. _

_Years later, Hinata decided to treat him to his favorite sweet dango instead of their usual training. While they were eating, Hinata turned to him and said, "Neh Itachi-san," Itachi turned his head towards her, "how come you don't have a girlfriend yet?" Itachi never believed that he would be the shy type but as he knew it, he felt a blush coming along._

"_Why would I get a girlfriend?" Itachi asked turning his face away from her to hide his blush. Hinata didn't notice and continued eating her dango._

"_Well, many people your age or our age would be in a relationship of some sort by now. We had the excuse that we're on daily missions to not develop a steady relationship with anyone but even so, since there haven't been any major problems, you should've had plenty of time now," Hinata said gulping down one dango. Why is she asking me this, Itachi thought feeling that he really wanted to avoid this topic. _

"_What exactly are you implying Hinata-san?" Itachi smirked feeling his blush go away. It was now Hinata's turn to blush._

"_Eh…" Hinata trailed._

"_I believe someone is looking for a relationship and they're not-" Itachi was cut short._

"_NO! T-that's not it! I'm just…c-curious about you I guess…" Hinata said putting down her dango. This surely surprised him. She's curious about me?_

"_I mean," Hinata said as she moved a little closer to him to which Itachi did not make an effort to back away, "look at you! You have nice hair," she stroked his hair, "nice red eyes," she giggled and cleared his bangs away to look at his eyes, "and definitely a cute-wait make that a drop dead gorgeous face!" she yelled while taking his face and holding it between her hands. Itachi felt his heart beat go erratic as she pulled his face closer and closer to hers. He could feel her breath against his skin. "You're just so cute! How can no girl want to be with you?" she yelped pinching his cheeks and letting go of his face to return back to eating her dango. Itachi picked up his dango stick, hoping to distract himself from his current situation. He was about to take a bite when Hinata got his attention, again._

"_Itachi-san," she said getting close to him again, "you shouldn't leave your dango untouched for so long, it might get eaten." Hinata then placed her mouth over his dango stick and slowly pulled up the sweet dumpling ball with her lips. She chewed it for awhile and then gulped it down, sweetly stating, "I see why these are your favorite Itachi-san, your dango tastes good." She let out a small giggle while Itachi couldn't get his eyes off her lips. _

_Itachi felt his heart would beat out of his chest anytime soon. Her touches on his head, the caresses on his face, and their close proximity made him more nervous than any mission he's ever taken. Her luscious pink lips on his dango stick, slowly going up and her statement about his dango stick tasting good almost made him faint. He needed to cool down, and fast._

"_I have to go Hinata-san," he said placing folded money to pay for both their dangos, "Farewell." With that, Itachi swiftly left the small stand. _

"_Hey! I said I was going to treat you Ita-chan!" Hinata would say this to annoy him or get his attention but Itachi was long gone before she could stop him. "Oh welps," Hinata said grabbing Itachi's dango and finishing it off._

This of course occurred a week ago prior to Hinata's meeting with her brother today so the memory was still fresh in his head. He looked at Hinata and nudged her with his arm.

"Let's head off to the training grounds now. Sasuke can find us later when he's finished settling his affair here," Itachi said grabbing hold of Hinata's wrist and dragging her away from the crowd.

"Are you sure Itachi-san? Should we really leave your brother there?" Hinata said between huffs as she let herself be dragged by Itachi. Itachi just nodded and gently pulled her along.

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Authors note: 

I don't know what Hinata's moms name is. In fact, if you've noticed, Kishimoto doesn't include a lot of mother figures in Naruto. You think he has a mother complex? But anyhowie, that's Itachi's history with Hinata and its really built on a strong foundation.

Oh yea! I decided to make Itachi two years younger so he is currently 19. Hinata, Sasuke and Gaara are 16 and Neji is 17. Gaara will be making his appearance at the training ground so review and come check by soon! Oh, Naruto and Sakura would come in too, and you must keep in mind that I hate Sakura so she will be suffering as long as I am the author of this story. So if you do not like Sakura bashing, you should not continue after a few chapters.

Yea, Itachi's mature. Haha. Naughty naughty...Cmon! What's wrong with Akatsuki members, they better be getting themselves plenty because I don't think anyone could withstand not getting any for so many years. He's my favorite character in Naruto and Hinata is my second. Teehee. I want some dangos.

But please R&R! Thank you guys for reading! Constructive criticism is always welcomed too!


	5. Chapter 5

Heyooo you guys! I'm glad to see that many people are enjoying my fic! It warms up an author's heart .

Kagome and Hinata72995- i'm trying i'm trying!

dreamalluwant2- don't worry, as long as there are reviews, i'll keep on writing.

Lems- yea it is hard to decide. unless of course i favor one character over the other. but she WILL end up with one of them. i'm not going to let my readers hanging D

LavenderShell- i'm glad you love my story! i love your reviews!

Kichou- well itachi is getting older, i have to involve what teenagers go through. if i didn't do that, it wouldn't really be funny. gaara is currently a friend, but gaara has also reached that age where he needs

comfortAzngrlQT- i'm glad my story can bring a smile to your face. its really nice to know these things. i'm glad you're in a better mood! i'm certainly in a mad mood nowadays since my bf dumped me (but reading your guys reviews helps cheer me up alot)

Qii-chain - yea i'm a sucker for ItaHina but i have to involve a lot of fluff for all of them so don't worry! there's been more ItaHina fluff than any other

onessummer-loven-2- thanks! i will do that!

Kohaku of the Ice- i'm glad you could read it again too. i'm rather flattered that you like this story. thanks for the info on kishimoto's history. that was very interesting!

vegetapr69 - you feel strange reading it? my oh my! teehee jk . but yea i want to see the two brothers converse without sasuke wanting to kill itachi for reals. although later in the story they might really hate each other due to the competition

Max Doe- i haven't watched much Rugrats but i'm glad you think sasuke was cute. i thought he was too when he was younger but not anymore.. that's why i'm making him suffer. yea i'm providing a background for everyone who likes hinata except for Sasuke since he left.

Thank you guys for all the reviews! Keep them coming because the more I receive, the more I want to respond!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. The characters however, are mine to manipulate .

Enjoy!

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**Chatper 5:  
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It is an odd site to see a young man try and hide away from old people as if they were diseases. But it wasn't so odd if the young man's name was Sabaku no Gaara, and at the age of 16, he was the youngest kage of the five great ninja villages. _How dire can a situation be for there to be a meeting almost everyday…_Gaara thought as he let his sand take him elsewhere other than his village.

He ended up seeing green all around and quickly recognized that he was inside the village of Konoha and that if someone found him, they'd report back to Suna and his sand hard butt would be back in the meeting room again.

Gaara occasionally visited Konoha but usually they were assigned meetings with the Hokage and he wouldn't have much time to look around. He was curious as to know how the ninjas of this village were so compassionate but they were the most powerful when it came down to battle. Gaara was fortunate one time to finish a meeting early with the elders of this village and walked around.

_It had been two years since the Uchiha left and he and his siblings were sent to help the ninjas of this village to retrieve him. _

_As he walked around, Gaara actually anticipated on seeing the blonde haired friend whom gave him such hope so many years ago. To his surprise, he actually met up with his old friend who was seen sitting and feasting away at a ramen stand called Ichiraku's. He started walking towards Naruto when he noticed the pink haired girl, presumably his teammate, sitting their next to him chatting idly. They're not yelling or screaming at each other…Gaara thought as he walked towards them noticing the blush on Naruto's cheeks as he gorged on the bowl of ramen. _

"_Ramen is usually used as rations or provisions for a ninja since they're quick to eat. Here you have all the time but you still insist on eating that…" Gaara said as he stealthily appeared sitting next to Naruto. This caused the blonde ninja to gag once he heard the voice and the female ninja to gasp in surprise as they both turned towards him._

"_Gaara! What are you doing here in Konoha! Another meeting with baa-san?" Naruto said gulping down the last of his ramen. "Man that was good, maybe I should get another-" _

"_Naruto's that's enough! Let's go do something else!" Sakura whined as she slapped Naruto's hand down to keep him from asking Ayame for another bowl. _

"_Ok, ok. But Gaara! Wow, you're here! After so many years you decide to visit me. So why are you here today?" Naruto said giving Gaara his signature smile. Gaara couldn't help but give Naruto a small smile in return. His buoyancy was rather contagious. _

"_As you said, I did have a meeting with your Hokage and elders, but your Hokage fell asleep. I had my chance to escape," Gaara said stoically. _

"_Ahaha. Baa-san is even lazier than me! I guess if you become the Hokage, you get that excuse. Man, I just can't wait to become Hokage of this village and get those sort of privileges! So Gaara! What do you want to do?" Naruto said grinning patting the back of his head. It felt good to see a long time friend, especially when another one is still missing. Can't have all of them go away._

"_Whatever suits you; this is not my village, I'm not familiar with what you do for entertainment," Gaara stated as his ice blue eyes glared at the arm Sakura was grasping Naruto at. _

"_Ok! Neh Sakura-chan, where do YOU want to go?" Naruto said grabbing hold of Sakura's hand. This caused the pink haired kunoichi to inwardly wince which only Gaara noted. Naruto was too busy smiling at her with his eyes closed to notice her cumbersome action. _

"_Anywhere but a ramen stand…I know! Why don't you take that fat frog bag of yours and you can treat me to some new outfits," Sakura said with a plastered smile. Gaara of course knew where this was going. Sakura didn't want his company, not that he was offended, no one liked his company. But Naruto didn't notice the rudeness of Sakura's suggestion and was too thrilled that she would ask him to do the honor of buying her wardrobe. _

"_Ok Sakura-chan, where to-hey Gaara! Where're you going? Don't you want to come with us?" Naruto said catching the distant red headed ninja. _

"_I preferably rather not choose shopping. It was nice seeing you again Naruto-san, farewell," Gaara uttered disappearing with his sand. _

"_That was weird, oh well. Let's go Sakura-chan!" Naruto said dragging Sakura with him._

_So it seems that the pink haired kunoichi paired herself up with Naruto. I wonder if she really likes him or she just needs someone to give her attention…in any matter, I don't like her, Gaara concluded. Gaara continued to search around in his sand ball until he saw what seemed like a training ground surrounded by nothing but decadent green trees. It was a good place to take a nap without loud boisterous noises. _

_He landed in front of a tree that had the root sticking up as a place for him to seat himself. As he was sitting down, he felt his sand go immediately up to block an incoming kunai that would've landed straight at his liver. He immediately dropped his sand and had it form around him to catch site of the deathly assassin. Gaara was about to send his sand to maim the intruder when he heard a small voice._

"_K-Kazekage-sama!" came the voice, "I-I am so sorry! I t-thought that you were an intruder!" _

_Gaara lowered his sand to notice a small petite girl with eyes whiter than Jiraiya's hair. She had her head lowered and she was significantly bowing awfully low in apology. Gaara's memory kicked in. He had seen her before but where…_

"_As y-you can s-see…I was t-training and then…I h-heard something and in r-response, I j-just…I'm so sorry Kazekage-sama!" the girl yelped not even daring to look up at him. That annoying stutter…ah, that Hyuuga girl who got mutilated by her cousin._

"_Its fine," Gaara sternly replied as he returned back to his tree and sat down, closing his eyes. _

_Hinata didn't dare get up yet. She tried peaking to see if he was going to approach her and punish her but as she saw, he just sat down next to a tree closing his eyes. It looked rather peaceful. _

"_I would prefer if you do not stare for long Hyuuga," Gaara said coldly as he wanted to be left alone. "I would gladly take privacy over conversing any day." He grunted. Taking a nap is harder in Konoha than he thought, but he was grateful. Back in Suna, he'd have to deal with his fan club that adored nothing but him and his title._

"_I'm s-sorry…" Hinata said raising her head to meet up with him. She had to try what Neji told her. She will not gain any respect if she keeps up this weakling front. "I…I amsorryfordisturbingyouKazekage-samaandIwouldgladlyleavetoleaveyouinyour_

_privacy!" Hinata said all in one breathe. At least she didn't stutter, but she didn't make much sense. She quickly got up to leave and started power walking away until she noticed that her wrist was grasped by something cold. She knew exactly what it was but she knew Gaara wasn't that same monster many years ago. However, she was still afraid of the power he held. _

_As she turned around, she met with the cold gaze of Gaara's. "You were…training?" Gaara softly asked as he willed away the sand binding her wrists. Hinata blushed. _

_"Y-yes. I w-was training but I can go a-away if you'd l-like?" Hinata said looking him straight in the eye. Sure she was nervous, but she needed to change herself no matter what. Gaara would've raised his brows if he had any; the girl actually looked him in the eye. _

_"It's fine if you want to train. Make sure you do not bother me," Gaara said closing his eyes again. Hinata couldn't form any words. So he's deciding to let me train? Wait…that means he'll be watching me! But he has his eyes closed… Tons of scenarios went on in her head about the possible bad things that could happen; most of them involving her bothering Gaara in some way. But this wasn't the time to be confused. It was her training time before Itachi showed up. She had a good two hours before Itachi would come and it would be the perfect time to get her self hyped up. _

_Hinata decided to imagine that Gaara was not there and that he was just another tree. A very quiet tree with red hair…_

_With that, Hinata focused on her training. She summoned two clones of her self and made them attack her. She of course had her Byakugan activated and tried perfecting her view of tenketsus. She trained with the same ferocity Itachi had taught her to train with. In Itachi's words, "Hinata-san, if you appear to be any less of a killer, your opponent will take advantage of that and become your killer." _

_With those words reasserted into her mind, she made her clones transform into the one THING she hated the most. Haruno, Sakura. _

_She started her rapid assaults on the two clones of Sakura. She thrust her palms fiercely against the bodies of the assaulting enemies, who in return couldn't escape fast enough from her deadly blows. _

_Gaara watched amazed as the petite girl he once remembered to be weak show a side that was close to the merciless character of her cousin. Not to mention he questioned why she was fighting the pink haired girl. Then he remembered that this girl happened to like Naruto, as she always did listen to his ranting and the pink haired girl was now together with Naruto. He continued watching her as she pounded away ferociously at multiple clones of Sakura until he stood up, which caught her attention. _

_She quickly hurled shurikens at the distracted clones and they disappeared with a POOF!_

"_I-I'm sorry, did I b-bother you in anyway?" Hinata questioned innocently. _

_Gaara gazed directly at her; she didn't flinch away or anything this time. "Does training give her that much confidence?" he wondered. "No. It was rather enjoyable to watch someone beat away their worries…" Gaara said walking closer to her. He saw her cheeks tinge with a little pink and continued to walk towards her. _

_Hinata rarely received compliments as to how she always believed she failed at everything. The only people to compliment her were Neji and Itachi and they were both her caretakers so of course they would say nice things from time to time. But this was Sabaku no Gaara, a person who says things out boldly and those bold things were never that nice. "Well, it is fun to release your anger indirectly…" Hinata said with a little smile. It was true; it felt really good to pound away on those Sakura clones, especially after what she did to Naruto. _

"_I'd have to comply," Gaara shortly stated as he stopped right in front of her. Gaara had grown within two years; not like a giant but he was a good half a foot taller than her. She was so small, and fragile looking but he would not be deceived. She looked up at him, her Byakugan deactivated and now he could see his mirror image in her pale opaque eyes. He was curious though as to why the small girl was beating the living daylights out of a clone that resembled Naruto's girlfriend. "The pink- haired girl?" Gaara asked._

_Hinata felt a little blush coming along. "I don't like her very much," Hinata said chuckling a little. She had full confidence saying something like that. More like I HATE her but he doesn't need to know that, she considered. Gaara found him self quite curious as to know why such an innocent girl could dislike another one. _

"_Naruto-san?" Gaara questioned. She nodded her head._

"_I found out walking home one day…that she told Ino-san that she is staying with Naruto-kun until Uchiha-san comes back. Naruto-kun is just providing her the attention she wants for right now…" she confidently added with a little anger in her voice. Gaara was amused at how she stuttered less when she talked about her dislike towards Sakura. So she dislikes her too? _

"_Thank you for letting me rest here," Gaara said focusing his smile towards her. Hinata's presence gave him that same feeling when Naruto is around. Carefree was what he felt. Her small smile helped him initiate that feeling and his smile was projecting that occurrence. _

_Hinata saw him smile and almost thought she was seeing things or had used her Byakugan too much. Gaara was thanking her and giving her a smile, a very nice smile at that. She smiled back and replied, "I'm h-happy you were able to r-rest." Following that, she boldly extended her hand out to him. Neji had instructed her to do bold actions to help her get out of her timidity. Gaara was surprised for a bit but he extended his hand out to grasp hers. _

"_Sabaku no Gaara…W-Would you like to be m-my friend?" Hinata said giggling a little bit. It felt like she was talking to Itachi at the moment. Besides, Hinata didn't have many friends and making new ones was always a factor. Gaara also seemed rather alone, she felt that way once and she doesn't want anyone for that matter to subject to that. Gaara felt him self blushing, no one has ever asked if he would like to be their friends. Usually, everyone was too afraid of him to even approach him or better yet ask him to be their friend. _

_He gave her pale beaten hand a soft squeeze; it felt rather soft even after she trained. "I would like that…Hyuuga Hinata," Gaara responded gently letting go of her hand. "But our new found friendship would have to halt for awhile Hinata-san, I have to be returning to my village." With that Gaara started to walk away giving her a light wave. His sand started to accumulate around him when he heard her farewell._

"_B-Bye Gaara-san! I h-hope you come visit s-soon!" Hinata shouted throwing her arms immensely in the air. He smiled inside his sand and disappeared. _

_Oh yes, I forgot about my old friend here in Konoha,_ Gaara thought as he made his way back to the training grounds where he met Hinata. _It would be nice to see her again…_ He arrived at the training grounds to find no one there, so he sat himself down at the root of the tree.

"Itachi-san," Hinata said taking hold of Itachi's hand. The action caused Itachi to stop and turn to look at her. They arrived at the edge of the training grounds but no one was in sight. Hinata was holding his hand with both of hers; she dropped her arms down but still held his hand between hers.

"What is it Hinata-san?" Itachi asked trying to not blush at the fact that Hinata was holding his hand.

"I'm sorry if I had upset you last week," Hinata softly whispered holding onto his hand tightly. Itachi squeezed back and brought his other hand that was free to hold her chin up to his face.

"You didn't upset me in anyways, something just came up," _literally. _

Her eyes softened, "Oh ok then," she felt her playfulness return. She punched him in the arm shouting, "Then why didn't you visit me at the training grounds this whole week! It's quite rude to stand up a lady," she huffed pouting her cheeks. _She really does look like a child. _Itachi couldn't help it; he brought his hand up to her face and pinched her cheeks lightly. Her eyes went wide as he laughed.

"That was uncalled for…" Hinata snarled pouncing on Itachi causing him to fall back. Her legs were straddling him as she tickled him at his waist. He couldn't help but give into the temptations of laughter. Secrets of Itachi number one, he was ticklish.

Itachi laughed but he had to get out of this assault, he tried prying her off. He grabbed her legs but ended up grasping her thighs that were straddling him to try and pry her off. But the laughter made his body vibrate uncontrollably and he couldn't keep his hands grasping the same place on her thigh to apply force so his hands ended up running up and down her thighs. _Oh crap…that felt nice. _

"Hinata-san?" they both turned their heads towards the voice. Hinata stopped her assault as she realized who it was.

"Gaara-san!" she got up from Itachi and helped him up before looking over at Gaara.

"It's been awhile hasn't it Hinata-san?" Gaara asked approaching her stopping about four feet in front of Itachi and Hinata. He wouldn't question her about what they were just doing. It wasn't his business. Hinata gave him a wide smile as she hooked her arm with Itachi's.

"Yes it has, but this is my trainer and a most trusted friend, Itachi," Hinata smiled,

jerking him to the front.

Gaara sized up the man in front of him. He couldn't help but notice Hinata's comfort level with this person. He had jet black hair, pale skin, dark red eyes-wait dark red eyes? The only other person who he knows that has dark red eyes was Uchiha Sasuke. Was this person an Uchiha as well? He did look a lot like Uchiha Sasuke, but this person looked older, with more mature features. Not to mention the lines that ran down beneath his eyes.

Seeing as how Gaara was not going to reply, she introduced Gaara. "And this," she grabbed onto Gaara's arm, "is my old friend Sabaku no Gaara." Itachi's eyes narrowed at the site of Hinata grabbing onto Gaara's arm.

"I am sorry Hinata-san but I am aware of who he is. Kazekage-sama, what brings you here to Konoha?" Itachi asked rather forcefully, not enjoying another male presence.

Gaara opened his mouth to retort when he was interrupted by a demanding voice.

"WHY THE FUCK DID YOU GUYS LEAVE ME!"

* * *

Teehee. I love the fact that Itachi has such a calm outer shell but a perverted mind inside. Now that I have everyone's background covered that needed to be covered, it'll be Hinata's turn to display her feelings and thoughts. Yes, she is not the one that is oblivious to how everyone acts around her. In my story, Hinata will not be entirely dense but she will start questioning why only guys hang out around her. 

But anyhowie, tell me if you see errors, I personally can't stand a little gramatical error. Like leaving out a word. I checked over this once with spell and grammar check and then I checked it myself. But yeazers.

Oh check out my latest drawing of Hinata. I tried making her look more real. The directory to my deviantart is on my homepage.

Oh yes, Hinata hates Sakura! I'm using Hinata as my vessel to pour out my hatred for her. Major Sakura bashing in the next chapter with Hinata. She's going PAWN THAT PINK ASS OF HERS. Karma I hate her. Oh and I don't care for Naruto so if he suffers in this story, please don't plead to me.

But anyhowie! R&R! I didn't know what R&R meant until someone told me. :P


	6. Chapter 6

Hey you guys! Yea I'm pretty bad for not updating for so long, but that's why I'm making it up with this extremely long chapter. Now that I've gotten to the point to where there won't be such a substantial amount of flashbacks, I would be able to update faster since I'm more inclined to not have to follow any limits I've set for myself. But anyhowie... if you guys noticed, I changed the genre back to General because I can't find much humor in this chapter. Yea I think I'm just going to revert back to some humor but not much so sorry!

Kichou- hmm i think any person who loves hinata pairings happen to also love sakura bashing. iono, she's just so damn annoying

dreamalluwant2- i'm glad that you also hate sakura. more like, who doesn't hate her? but thank you for reading my story, i'm glad you're enjoying it

AzngrlQT- haha, they make you laugh? they amuse me...but this won't be the funny haha one in this chapter. that'll be for later

Lems - its fine! it's still wonderful that you review!

summer-loven-2- will do!

temarichica101- i know! i love it too! i like itachi's obsession over her. its drives me nuts! i can't wait to make the other guys want her like itachi and neji do

Mareno Mikato- well you're going to find out

Kohaku of the Ice-lmao! yay! lets form a mob and destroy everything that's even the slightest shade of pink! go pink killers!

Evil Kakashi - i'm so glad that you like it! hinata is my second favorite character to itachi

Morgan Pavil- don't worry! i'll be updating as long as people review! thanks so muchos!

shwan - i'm glad it makes you laugh. i'm sorry though but there won't be much humor in this chapter. usually sasuke causes the humor but he's not much in this chapter

Blue-Shine-Angel- i will update! in fact now!

Thank you all for reviewing! If I happened to miss commenting back, please tell me. But thank you so much for continuing! It really means a lot to me!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. But enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter: 6**

Three heads snapped towards the origin of the crude statement. It was no surprise to Hinata and Itachi as they saw Sasuke frantically running towards them with the look of agony and anger in his eyes. He looked like he could murder a million other murderers. He halted as he neared them and let away his anger.

"Why. The. Hell. Did. You. Not. Help. Me. Back. There?" Sasuke said through clenched teeth pointing an accusing finger at both Itachi and Hinata. Hinata could barely contain her laughter as she noticed scratch marks on his attire. _Those girls really wanted to get into his pants…_

"I'm so sorry Sasuke-san, it seemed like it would be out of my place to stop those girls from trying to fulfill their dreams-" Hinata was rudely interrupted by the infuriated Uchiha.

"You're SORRY? If you were sorry at ALL, you wouldn't have left me in the first place!" Sasuke yelled at the top of his lungs, trying to tower over Hinata who confidently stood her ground, not cringing at his heightening form. Itachi was getting a little irritable with how Sasuke acted towards Hinata. He didn't like Sasuke's pathetic accusation when it was his idea to leave him there. Not to mention he was getting rather close to Hinata. Gaara who stood to the side of Hinata found it rather comical.

Itachi was about to say something in response when he felt a small, delicate finger on his lips.

"Sasuke-san," Hinata said looking straight into Sasuke's enraged eyes, "I know that it may have been cruel of us to leave you like that, but if we were to interfere, I believe that that would hurt you only," she trailed giving him a smile. Sasuke was confused as hell, _Hurt him? What the heck is she saying?_ "Come on! Don't you have that thing called male egotism? You're big and strong, a MAN like you can handle himself quite well I'd say," she grinned widely at him punching him in the arm. Sasuke couldn't help but scoff a little. She was making fun of him, that was for sure, but she managed it out to be somewhat cute. _Ahah. Cute, I can't recall ever saying that about someone._ He was still a little mad though.

"I can get my retribution with you through our match," Sasuke responded cracking his knuckles and smirking at the thought of him beating her to a pulp. He sure as hell wanted to beat up the fan girls of his but they were too weak, it'd be like picking on little kids. Actually he wanted to beat up Itachi but he'd be proportional to himself beating up the little kids. He looked around Hinata and noticed someone with red hair. _Red hair?_ His eyes immediately widened as he realized who it was.

"Sabaku no Gaara?" Sasuke choked out eyeing down the demon vessel who glared back at him.

"Little brother, it is impolite to address Kazekage-sama like that," Itachi said with his eyes closed, scowling at the fact that he had to call him that title as well. Sasuke looked up to see Gaara dominantly smirking.

"So what brings you here Kazekage-SAMA?" Sasuke forced out folding his arms across his chest. Hinata and Itachi were boringly gazing at the interaction between the two. They decided to start training themselves so they head out to the middle of the field. As Gaara calmly responded to Sasuke's angered questions, Hinata and Itachi had their own idle chat.

They took their stance a few feet apart from each other. Hinata personally loved training with Itachi. He was strict with her, that was certain, but he was also patient with her. She valued their friendship ever since they made one with each other. All those years ago, she could think back to the times where she couldn't muster up a sentence without stuttering. _So many people have helped me…I need to be able to start returning back to them._ Hinata took the first step and launched her attack on Itachi who calmly swayed away from her palms. She knew she wouldn't be much of a match for the young ANBU captain but she had confidence that she wasn't so bad either. Her victory over the Sasuke obsessed freak years ago helped to assure her that immensely.

_The chuunin exams had been delayed for a year ever since the attack. However, two years after that, they decided that the need for higher ranking ninjas were in demand so they reinstated the chuunin exams once again. _

_The Hyuuga heiress of fourteen years tapped the shoulder of her trainer. "Itachi-san," she whispered near his ear, causing the Uchiha heir to face towards her._

"_Yes?" he answered quietly tapping the place next to him to indicate where she should sit._

_She took her seat next to him. "Are…are you sure I should enter the chuunin exams again? It's only been -" _

"_You are entirely capable of passing this time Hinata-san. You and I have trained almost every day ever since the baka left, you have improved a great deal-so have some confidence," Itachi said ruffling her hair. He gave her a small smile to which she returned. _

_Hinata never told Itachi but she did have a small crush on him. He had a fan club and that righteously told everyone that his looks were to die for. But Hinata would not be the superficial type. She didn't crush on him because of his drop dead gorgeous face, but how he treated her ever since they met. He'll be the only person Hinata would have ever known to have treated her with respect ever since the day they met to their training today. Naruto was lost in his deceitful world of love so she had no one except for her two most trusted trainers and friends; Neji and Itachi. But she's been dying to actually embrace the Uchiha captain. She didn't want to sound like a fan girl but getting a hug from him would be really nice. Part of her crush side roamed into no mans land of indecent thoughts while her righteous side begged for some comfort. She felt that being a ninja can dismiss you from having a strong boyfriend/girlfriend relationship, but she somehow wanted to avoid that. Not that she wanted Itachi to all of a sudden ask her to become his girlfriend but be there for her mentally and physically. _

_The encouragement he just gave her pushed her to complete that task. She inched towards him and placed her arms around his shoulders even though she couldn't reach all the way around his broad shoulders. She leaned her head on his shoulder closest to her. He didn't move and Hinata was going to retract her arms when she felt his strong pair of arms wrap around her petite body. She immediately blushed but she turned a few shades darker of red when he buried his face into the crook of her neck. For some unknown reason, she had a conflicting conscious when things came to deal with Itachi. This feels nice… you should get more hugs from him, righteous Hinata thought. Yea get more hugs from him so you can press your chest up against his well built ones, indecent Hinata thought, oh smell him too! I bet you he smells as perfect as he looks! Hinata decided to try. She took a quiet sniff of him near the neck; he shuddered when her nose pressed lightly on his neck. Oh crap, I think he noticed. Great Hinata! There goes your subtlety, you suck at this. Just like how you sucked at keeping your feelings for Naruto hidden. You're as smooth as Rock Lee's eyebrows, indecent Hinata scolded. Hey quit yelling at her, it was your fault anyways since you told her to sniff him! Hinata felt her face warming up even more. "S-sorry-" she stopped as she felt him tighten his hold around her waist. _

"_Don't tell me you're an admirer too, Hinata-san," Itachi said breathing on her neck. _

"_N-no… t-that wasn't it! I was j-just curious as to how y-you… you smelled…" Hinata said recoiling her arms back towards her body. He still had his arms around her though. "B-but, you smell nice…" Hinata said raising her face to meet his. Their faces were mere inches apart. _

"_And you," Itachi grabbed her waist and pulled her up towards him, "smell…" he took his head and buried his nose in the crook of her neck, inhaling her scent which brought a gasp from Hinata, "very nice yourself," he said releasing her giving her a smirk. Wow, maybe he likes you too Hinata…indecent Hinata thought. If he does, think of all the things that he can do to make you feel as good as-a sledge hammer was brought down on indecent Hinata's head. Quit it! Itachi can't possibly feel that way for her; he's just teasing her like a teacher would, righteous Hinata stated. Yes, Hinata thought, he's just messing around with me._

"_T-thank you for letting me smell you, Itachi-san," Hinata said smiling at him with a small blush._

"_By all means, if you want to Hinata-san, it is fine if you want to smell me, but I'd consider it done after I shower," he said softly cupping her cheek and stroking it. Oh no, he's giving you that warm feeling in the pit of your stomach. And it's NOT the funny ha-ha feeling, indecent Hinata said poking at righteous Hinata who laid on the ground with five bumps on her head. _

"_Thanks for the encouragement…," Hinata said giving him one last squeeze before letting go and getting up to pat down her backside. "I guess I'll be heading home then. See you tomorrow Itachi-san," she waved him good bye as she walked away from their training grounds. She had to get away; she was getting all warm and fuzzy inside. She headed towards the military mansion known as her home. She was greeted by Neji who seemed like he just arrived there the same time she did._

"_Finished training with Uchiha-san?" Neji asked walking next to her._

"_Yes…but I'm a little worried Neji, Itachi-san said that I should enter the chuunin exams again but I don't think I'm quite strong enough yet…" she trailed off converting back to her old habit of playing with her fingers._

_They arrived at the front gates and he opened it for her, "I don't know what you're talking about but you're highly qualified for it, you almost kicked my butt weeks ago and I'm quite sure you've gotten stronger since then," he said reassuringly giving her a rare but nice grin. Neji couldn't tell her that she almost beat him because he had an erection, but he'll help her esteem a little bit. Hinata giggled at the site of his face which attempted to contort into a smile. _

"_That's because you were out of it, I shouldn't have taken advantage of you like that. But I'm quite sure that no one will be out of it during the chuunin exams," Hinata replied sitting down and taking off her sandals with Neji following her actions. _

"_If you think that you are so weak, do you want to spar and show me what you've got? I'll show you that you're ready for the exam. Not to mention you're quite clever so strategical moves shouldn't be a problem for you," he huffed out getting annoyed at her lack of confidence. _

"_B-but, you'll just beat me or go easy on me, it's not helpful to deceive me Neji," she said pulling Neji up along with herself. Neji grasped her small hands and attempted to pull himself up but she quickly lost her balance and followed his downward crash. They found themselves with Hinata splayed over Neji's body and Neji lying flat on his back. _

_Hinata saw a blush on Neji and started laughing. "Oh wow! Neji, you look so funny blushing. Is that how I look every time I blush?" she laughed out placing her hands on either side of his head. Hinata would never say it aloud but she did find her cousin rather attractive, and the site of pink tinges on his cheeks was to die for. Neji on the other hand didn't find the situation funny, but more troublesome than their last close encounter. If he propped himself up on his elbows, their lips would've met. _

_Hinata was about to tease him some more when they heard foot steps approaching. She plucked herself off of him and he followed. _

"_Nee-san! I heard that you might be thinking about entering the chuunin exams again this year," Hanabi appeared placing her hands on her hips. "I hope you pass this time, now that Neji-nii-san isn't around to try and kill you," she said glaring at her cousin. _

"_Hanabi, Neji didn't mean to hurt me, he was just…angry," she replied softly. "Please tell me you're still not mad at him," Hinata pleaded knowing that Hanabi watched out for her as the protective younger sister. _

"_I'm not! See!" Hanabi ran straight towards Neji and wrapped her arms around him as much as possible seeing how much younger and littler she was compared to him. "I'm just saying that since you've been training with Neji-nii-san and Uchiha-san, you have a higher chance of passing without fighting big, strong people like nii-san here," she squeaked hugging Neji tighter. Neji scowled; he'd much rather have Hinata hug like this. _

_Hinata chuckled lightly. Neji had a, 'get me out of this situation- pry her off with a screw bar' look. "Ok Hanabi, I'll be sure to pass so that I won't disappoint you, but… you're hogging all of Neji to yourself!" Hinata grinned pouncing on Neji and wrapping her own arms around him. She contented herself with placing her arms around his neck since Hanabi had her arms around his waist. _

"_He's mine! Get off nee-san!"_

"_No he's not!"_

"_Yes he is! I got him first!"_

"_I was talking to him before you did!"_

"_Yea but I'm cuter and he likes me way more than he likes you!"_

"_Well yea, he trains me and he doesn't train you! So he obviously likes me more!"_

_Hinata hugged Neji just as tight as Hanabi hugged his waist. She practically had his head buried in her chest. They continued their hug a war with him when he interrupted their yelling._

"_Hinata," he said in a low tone. It sounded as if he were angry._

"_Yes Neji?" Hinata said worried that they did something to upset him._

"_I smell something masculine on your clothing…" Neji stated._

_Something masculine? Itachi! Oh my karma, it was just a hug. Neji must be thinking things already…_

"_O-oh, u-umm…" Hinata blushed. Hanabi started laughing._

"_She's stuttering again! Hinata you have a boyfriend! Spill the noodles, come on, you have to tell your little sister!" Hanabi joyfully yelled. Hinata heard a grunt from Neji._

"_No! I mean, I don't have a boyfriend. I just g-gave Itachi-san a h-hug e-earlier…" she started playing with her fingers again._

"_Hinata-sama, what did I tell you about the fingers," Neji said harshly. He started walking towards his room. "Oh and you will participate in the chuunin exams tomorrow, I already enlisted you so there's no backing out," with that he slid his door shut. _

"_Wow, I wonder what got his boxers in a bunch," Hanabi questioned scratching her head. "Oh well, but good luck tomorrow Hinata! I'm going off to bed," she said giving Hinata a hug before heading off to her room._

_Hinata looked towards Neji's room. I wonder why he's mad at me. She questioned noting that earlier he used her title. She decided to settle it tonight so it won't be on her mind during her chuunin exam. _

_She went up to his door and knocked softly. "Neji?" no answer so she knocked again. "Neji?" she said louder this time._

"_What?" came a hoarse voice on the other side of the door. _

"_C-can I speak with you for a moment?" Hinata asked folding her hands. She heard him sigh._

"_Fine," he said unlatching his door. The door slid open and he was in nothing but his boxers. She felt the tinge of pink attack her cheeks as she tried to avert her gaze else where than his nicely toned abs. _

_He walked towards his futon and sat down motioning for her to follow him. She sat herself next to him feeling really sorry for whatever she may have done to anger him. _

"_Neji-" all of a sudden she felt her back press against Neji's futon and Neji's arms wrapped fully around her. She looked up to see that Neji buried his head in the crook of her neck as to how Itachi did earlier. She blushed but she wrapped her arms around him. _

"_Neji?" she asked quietly holding onto him. _

"_I'm sorry Hinata," he said sitting up and pulling her up with him. He pulled his arms back._

"_It's…it's alright Neji," she whispered to him putting her arms around him. Like Itachi's reaction, he gasped a little before wrapping his arms around her. "Everyone needs a hug once in awhile. We may be ninjas but we're also human…whether that sounds corny or not but we need comfort here and then. W-were you angry that I hugged Itachi-san?" _

_She couldn't tell what his reply was but he did strengthen his hold on her. I'll take that as a yes… _

"_Neji," Hinata said cupping his cheek to make him face her. She stroked his cheek like Itachi did to her. It made her feel like she wasn't lonely so she can do the same with Neji. "If all you wanted was a hug, by no means just give me a hug. It's not like you're the only one who wants one," she said giving him a smile. She saw him tinge with pink again and laughed. "But on any case, I have to get some rest for tomorrow," she said giving him a squeeze to which he squeezed back even more. _

"_Thanks…Hinata," Neji said giving her a last hug before chasing her out of the room. He slid the door shut in Hinata's face._

"_How rude…oh well," with that Hinata headed off towards her room._

_The next morning, Hinata awoke to the early rays of the sun hitting her room. She stretched to crack a few bones here and there and then went to the bathroom to do the ritual of morning cleansing. She dashed towards the kitchen to grab a quick breakfast but stopped herself in front of Neji's room. She decided to pay him a visit before she went for her warm-up, and then to the chuunin exams. She wouldn't see him until the matches started and that would be awhile. Hinata cautiously approached his door, and called to him. "Neji? Neji are you awake yet?" she didn't get an answer. Hmph, if he wasn't awake yet, oh he'll be awake soon then. She tried sliding his door open, and to her surprise, it wasn't latched._

_As she entered the room, she slid the door behind her closed and looked over to his futon. There lay a lump of a ninja underneath his sheets. _

"_Hinata…" she heard him whisper. Oh crap, did he already wake up? She called out Neji, but he didn't respond. Ok…he's just sleep talking. Wait, he said my name. Hinata steadily pattered over to his side, knelt down and looked over his face. His eyes were still closed, and his breathing was calm. Yup he's still asleep, she thought looking over his resting features. Damn he looked adorable, with his hair splayed out over his pillow and his body bunched into a ball. She heard him call her name again. Wow, in his sleep, he knows I'm here too. She tried nudging him._

"_Neji, Neji wake up," she whispered shaking his shoulders a little. "NEJI, WAKE UP," she repeated shaking him a little harder. "DAMMIT NEJI I SAID WAKE THE FUCKEN UP BEFORE I JYUUKEN YOUR ASS AWAKE!" she shouted grabbing his shirt by the shoulders and shaking his body to and fro. He was seriously pissing her off, all she wanted to do was to say good bye but here he was not even being able to wake up. She turned around to storm out of the room when she fell backwards in a hard motion. "What the!" she opened her eyes to see pale ones staring back at her. Neji was now hovering over her form with his hands on either side of her head. His face was mere inches from hers. _

"_Good morning to you too Hinata," Neji said smirking. "I guess I did have to wake up before you jyuukened my ass," he said nudging the side of her face with his cheeks. Hinata's face lighted up. "Since when you did cuss like that?" he asked pushing himself off of her. _

"_Ever since you pissed me off," she grinned back at him. She saw him settle between his blankets, as if he still wanted to sleep. She hugged her knees. "So what did you want so early in the morning, Hinata?" she saw him yawn covering his mouth with his hand. _

_His blankets were soft and warm; she couldn't help but yawn a little herself. "Well, I came to chat with you before I leave. The next time you see me will be when I'm fighting in the main matches, that is if I get there," she quietly responded to him. She saw him raise a brow._

"_Hmm, I appreciate it Hinata but I think I would prefer my beauty sleep," he said jokingly. Hinata scoffed. Oh the nerve of him. _

"_Fine then, good bye," she spat out knowing fully well that he'll pull her back from leaving. As she expected, she felt his hand grab hers just as she stood up. He pulled her back down and she found herself sitting on his crossed legs. His arms made their way around her body and his head rested on top of hers. She didn't think of it any further than being a way of comfort and encouragement. _

"_Hinata, I do not think but I know that you will make it to the final rounds, and you WILL become a chuunin this year," he whispered stroking her back. She raised her face to his._

"_Thanks Neji, but I guess I should grab breakfast now," she said giving him a hug before pushing away from his warm and welcoming body. _

"_Alright, I'll get breakfast too. I'll go find my team and we'll make our way to the stadium to get good seats to see your fight," Neji said getting up and stretching before following her. _

_They made their way to the kitchen and ate a light meal before saying their farewells to each other. Hinata made her way to the training grounds and summoned up a couple of clones to fight against. When she looked back at the sun, she realized it was time for the chuunin exams to begin._

_The order and events of the chuunin exams this year would be much simpler. It wasn't going to be a team based testing. They lost a substantial amount of people two years ago during the attack that sand and sound dealt on them so there would be fewer supervisors. Since the life of a chuunin had more solo missions than those of a genin's, they decided that solo battles were much more effective to pinpoint the ones who were ready. After all, their last chuunin exams eventually had solo battles anyways. It would be a climb up the ladder tournament in the short ways of understanding. Those who won the first round will proceed to the next round and so forth. During these fights, officials in the stadium would speculate on each individual's personal performance and decide if they're fit to be chuunin or not. _

_Hinata made her way to the familiar stadium where she saw in person, the defeat of Neji to Naruto. In this same stadium, she's going to prove her worth, not to her family, but to herself. She will not let Itachi and Neji down, the two who cared about her the most and the two whom she cared about the most. _

_As she arrived, she noticed at least over two hundred people grouped out in front of the stadium. Amongst the group, she saw pink and her blood boiled. Oh wouldn't it be great to fight her? Hinata agreed, "How I would love to smash that pretty little smile of hers." Hinata made her way towards the group. She realized that a majority of them were from the chuunin exams held two years ago. As she arrived, she looked over to the sun and realized that morning did really come, and that the chuunin exams are really going to begin, soon. Do your best to stay calm and relax, Itachi had mention to us that having a calm exterior nerves your opponent a great deal, which gives you the advantage. Neji also reminded you to give a smile when you feel that you may be at a disadvantage, don't show them that you are on the low side. _

_Hinata smiled, she didn't have full confidence but she did have some. She didn't want to tell Neji this but she felt really good when she ended up the winner their fight weeks ago. Yes, confidence, I've got some, and now I want more. She looked up just to see Tsunade make her appearance in front of the crowd. Everyone hushed and gave her their undivided attention. Hinata noticed a couple of guys go hay wire gazing at her amazing bosoms. _

"_Attention all ninjas, it is in my worst character to welcome all of you to the village of Konoha! I'm quite sure you all know what you are doing here today, if you don't, please leave or I can make you leave. But as you all know, the events and rules that follow will be much more different than the one held two years ago. You are here to prove your worth as a candidate to raise your ranks and I expect you to behave as how you want your status to be. The events will be explained as the chuunin exams progress, so please make your way into the stadiums as our supervisors direct you to your distinguished areas," with her ending sentence, the doors for the stadium opened and awed the people with the site of the decorated stadium, just for their purpose. _

_As everyone entered, there in the stands were hundreds and hundreds of people, from all different villages there to root for their people to pass. The nobles from the far away lands sat closer to the middle of the stadium, which was to the left and right of the respected kage's designated areas. She decided to find her friends after the crowds died down. As they made their way in, jounins and chuunins administered them into the exams. They led them to their respectful areas and they disappeared, only to reappear next to Tsunade who made her appearance at the kage throne. _

_She walked up, confidently into the sunlight, to reveal herself to the crowds. Hinata remembered everyone quieting down, for they knew who this woman was; the strongest ninja in the village of the leaf. _

"_I am the proud Hokage of Konoha-gakure and I welcome everyone to our annual chuunin exams. I have seen ninjas from many different villages in this year's exams. Like everyone, I am anticipating seeing each one of your skills, and for you to make sure I am not bored by sober defeats. As the chuunin that wins top in this year's exam, they will be granted a wish made by the power invested in me. We also have guests from outside countries, and amongst those guests, I would like to present to you, Suna's own strongest ninja, the young Kazekage himself," she announced loudly into the crowds. Next to her appeared a body that was near her height, Hinata knew well who it was. As he walked closer to the balcony, the sun revealed his pale skin and red hair. _

"_I am honored to attend this year's chuunin exams held here in Konoha. Like Hokage-dono here, I also expect to see good fights," with that Gaara sat himself back down. He wasn't much of a speaker. This angered Tsunade; she was expecting him to make some sort of speech. _

"_I personally find it not amusing to listen to some old person speak for so long, so! With a great deal of genins here today, let us start, this year's chuunin exams!" she raised her arms in the air and the crowds went wild. There were cheering from every corner of the stadium. If Hinata's memory served her, she remembered feeling nothing but uncontrollable excitement. The crowd held such a cheerful atmosphere, she couldn't help but grin widely and the feeling of wanting to shout and scream herself, came into her mind. _

_As the crowd quieted down, a single examiner walked into the middle of the stadium, "With the initiation of this year's chuunin exams, I am proud to present to you, the first match of this year," following that, she heard him call out names she's never heard of but the crowds burst into cheering and screaming. The two people made their way to the stadium from their corner, and walked right up to each other. "As you all know, you will be evaluated by multiple examiners up in the stands. You will have a maximum of thirty minutes to fight, after that, the winners will be decided. So if you will, please start." The closing statement led to the opening of their attacks. Hinata watched with ambition, she wanted to fight now. Her adrenaline kicked in just watching the first match. She couldn't wait until her name was called. _

_The examiner continued to call and call and call out people's name and they made their way to the middle of the arena. The crowd was still endless in their cheering and the sun stood in the sky even brighter, shining down on this beautiful event. Most of the matches didn't even take five minutes to complete, many had given up, or some were just beaten down bad. Killing was not permitted here but beating them to the brink of death was. _

_Hinata remembered hearing her teammate's name being called out, both Kiba and Shino managed to pass the first round. So that left her, to which she must pass in order to not disappoint her teammates. Sure she went on missions with them but afterwards, like her, they went to train on their own. She still cared for them as much as they cared for her, but they never pried much into her personal life as much as she want them to. _

"_Hyuuga Hinata, versus, Yamanaka Ino!" _

_What? D-did he just call my name? Hinata's eyes widened, she couldn't believe it, it was her turn and she was fighting…Ino! She tried slowing down her breathing but she saw Ino making her way to the stadium already. She took steady steps but she all of a sudden heard the crowds roar as she stepped out of the shadows._

_They're…cheering for me? She heard many screams in the crowds, and most of them were positive. They're cheering for me! I can't let them down! She took confident strides toward Ino who had a smirk on her face. So she thinks I'm still the weak Naruto loving girl huh? I hate her almost as much as I hate Sakura. _

"_Hinata-chan? I'm quite surprised I'm fighting you, but letting you know, I'm much more stronger than when I fought fore-head girl two years ago," she huffed out running her hand through her hair. She looked at Hinata's eyes, expecting to see fear, only to see defiance._

"_I'm quite sure you've gotten stronger Ino-san, but so have I," Hinata tightly smiled. This shocked Ino and she was about to retort when the examiner told them to begin._

"_I'll wipe that smile off your face, Hyuuga outcast!" Ino said launching her attack on Hinata forgetting that she specialized in close range combat. Hinata saw her approaching form and quickly side stepped Ino who had her fist ready to smash her face in. Ino was caught off guard and lost her footing, as to where Hinata built up chakra in her fist and backhanded Ino's face with maximum strength. Hinata heard a scream, knowing fully well it wasn't her own. She looked to Ino who lay a few feet away from the impact, slowly getting on her knees holding onto the side of her cheeks which were very much swollen. _

"_You'll…you'll pay for making my face look like yours!" Ino shouted grabbing some kunais and flinging them towards Hinata who hopped out of the way and started running towards Ino with the palm of her hands splayed out. Hinata's eyes quickly caught Ino's hand movements, knowing fully well what she was doing. She jumped out of the way and zig-zagged her approach knowing that Ino couldn't keep a steady image on her. _

"_Come on pig-head! You can beat that Hyuuga reject!" Hinata heard a distinct shout from the crowds. Her Byakugan unconsciously activated and she glared daggers at Ino who tried to have a still hold on Hinata's running form. Hinata knew that Naruto was not around, he was training with Jiraiya after his encounter with Gaara, that meant he will be around to witness the beating of his girlfriend's best friend. Ino noticed the difference in Hinata's visage._

"_Oh yea, that reminds me. I'm quite sure you're interested to hear what Sakura told me some months ago," Ino smirked seeing how Hinata stopped in her tracks. "I believe you had a crush on that idiot? Well seems like Sakura is only using him-" a chakra filled palm collided with the underside of Ino's chin. Once Hinata heard the words, 'Sakura' and 'Naruto,' she lost it. Sakura turned someone who I admired for the longest of time to a puddle of hopeless debris thinking someone actually loves him in return. Hinata looked up with her Byakugan activated to see Ino cough up blood. Her rage only pushed her to continue; she swiftly kneed Ino in the stomach and elbowed her neck at the same time sending her a few feet away. She heard something crack inside Ino during impact, most likely one of her ribs. The crowds quieted down, shocked at what they just saw. _

_She once again looked over to Ino's form, but this time, Ino didn't stir. Hinata smiled as the examiner knelt down to Ino and stood up again. "Winner, Hyuuga Hinata." The crowds started their uproar, Hinata looked around. She knew she had to leave the arena soon but she want to at least catch a glimpse of Itachi, Neji or maybe even her family. She didn't see them and made her way back. That whole match ended within just a couple of minutes. The people back at her area shook hands with her and some "hmph'ed." That felt good, she remembered telling herself. As the day progressed and the amount of people who were to advance dwindled by wide fractions, Hinata still couldn't wash the feeling of contentment away. She ended that day saying to herself as she left the arena, "I want to do that again."_

_The next day continued with the people for the second round, some people didn't make it back to the arena because of injuries due to yesterday's match so they ended up forfeiting. The opening speech was given for the second day of the chuunin exams and it started again. As Hinata watched, she analyzed each contestants speed and abilities in case she had to fight them later. _

"_Hyuuga Hinata, versus Tenten!" _

_Hinata blinked. Tenten? Neji's teammate! Hinata started struggling, Tenten is a year older than me. She's trained with Neji before and she's praised even by Tsunade. Her tomboyish attitude was something that I admired about her when I was younger…Hinata lost some confidence. Tenten is strong; she was just matched up against the wrong person at the last chuunin exams. Hinata made her way towards the middle of the stadium, she saw Tenten give her a smile to which she unconsciously returned. _

"_Hinata-san, I heard that Neji-kun's been training you personally, so I expect a good match from you," she said with strong confidence in her voice. _

_Hinata closed her eyes, absorbing the tips that Itachi had given her. Fighting an enemy is easy, but fighting a friend is hard. Well she's not really my friend, but I have to. I can't let them down! Hinata smiled, "Don't worry senpai, I assure you I will not disappoint you," Hinata returned with strong determination. _

_The examiner told them to begin._

_Hinata saw her move, and was about to move when she spoke. "I am going to win Hinata-san, I will prove to your cousin that I am of worth!" with that she flung multiple shurikens at Hinata which made contact with her body, but it poofed once it struck. She's fighting to get Neji's attention? Hinata hid herself in some trees on the edge of the stadium, she's a weapon's specialist. I'm quite sure she's learned more weapon jutsus, but maybe I can use that to my advantage…_

_Hinata saw Tenten close her eyes, she must be formulating a plan. She knows all about my advance bloodline, since she's been on Neji's team for years. But then again, Itachi has also trained me, and he took me away from solely depending only on Byakugan and jyuuken for my attacks. Tenten opened her eyes and kunais wheeled by Hinata's face. She didn't move; she had already anticipated that move. She saw Tenten smirk._

"_I know where you are Hinata-san," Tenten said jumping up into the air. She grabbed a handful of shurikens in one hand and another handful of kunais in the other. She tossed them over to the trees. Immediately after the launch, she clasped her hands together and whispered some words. Each of her weapons multiplied to form many other ones. There were now hundreds of shurikens and kunais heading towards Hinata's direction. Hinata had her own eyes shut and she reopened them right when the weapons touched the first leaf of the trees. Then there was a massive explosion that caused the audience to gasp and worry away. Had the Hyuuga heir been caught in the fire?_

_Tenten smirked, "She had no way of escaping, that blast was too large to escape with all those tags on each shuriken and kunai." However, Tenten didn't realize that Hinata had grown to accommodate Itachi's speed during their training sessions. Tenten all of a sudden felt another presence near her. She tried to react but felt something hard make an abrupt contact with her head. Her face smashed forward into the ground. She got her on her knees and coughed out some blood and quickly jumped away from Hinata's form. "Shit! When the hell did you get so fast?" she said wiping the blood from her mouth and giving Hinata a smirk. _

"_Tenten-san," Hinata started taking out some kunais which made Tenten alert. "I use to admire you when I was younger. I wanted to become a strong and confident person like yourself. Today, I think that may become possible. But in order to get Neji-nii-san's attention, you shouldn't have to fight and defeat someone in front of him to get acknowledged, my cousin already accepts you, you're his teammate," Hinata ended giving Tenten a sympathetic smile. _

"_Thanks for telling me that Hinata-san, but I am not looking to impress Neji-kun as a friend. I…I want him to acknowledge me as someone who he can b-be with," Tenten responded finding herself blushing. "And if I lose to you, his younger cousin, how would that make me look?" she said showing anger in her voice. "I! I can NOT lose here! Not to YOU!" she screamed grabbing two scrolls from her waist pouch. Hinata knew she was going to summon something, possibly more weapons. _

_Tenten grab the two scrolls and unwrapped them; wrapping them around her own body in one quick fluid motion. Her rapid spins had burst with weapons of all type towards Hinata who found some difficulty trying to dodge them. Hinata was about to stop when she saw that Tenten's weapons had cease to stop coming but she felt something graze the first layer of her skin on her cheek. She touched her face and felt blood. Tenten was using her charka as strings to manipulate her weapons around and quickly had all of them orbiting around Hinata. With a flick of her wrist, Tenten made her orbiting weapons contract on the form inside. _

_The audience gasped again; there was no way that the Hyuuga girl could've gotten out of this one. Tenten's eyes widened as she realized the weapons couldn't constrict any further._

"_Hakkeshō Kaiten!" the audience heard a shout before hearing another pitched scream. When she finished her spin, Hinata looked over at Tenten who had more than enough weapons embedded on her legs and arms. She managed to block her vital points but she sustained a lot of injuries. Hinata saw Tenten backing away quickly pulling out another scroll so she quickly took action. Hinata tossed one of the kunai she was holding along with some attachments straight towards Tenten. Tenten saw this coming and quickly ducked but once she started to duck, Hinata threw another kunai in the same path as the other one but quicker. The last kunai struck the top handle of the first one making its path downward and struck the ground right behind Tenten. An explosion was heard following a scream. _

_When the dust cleared around the stadium, Hinata looked over to see an unconscious Tenten lying face down on the ground with her back clothing burnt. Her eyes widened as she ran towards her. She knelt down to check her pulse and indeed it was still there. She sighed a sigh of relief as the examiner came and checked on Tenten as well. He raised his hand and projected, "Winner, Hyuuga Hinata." _

_The crowds cheered away as Hinata couldn't help but feel exhilarated. She almost killed Tenten, but it still felt good to be put under danger and come out of it victoriously. "I'm sorry I hurt her Neji-nii-san," Hinata whispered telling herself that Neji might have a crush on Tenten. She felt a surge of anger but shook it away. As she walked back to her designated area, she looked back over to the middle of the arena where the medic nins had Tenten on a stretcher. "I'm sorry Tenten, but it seems like I won…" she said quietly. The day progressed with the other matches and the size just kept dwindling and dwindling. The days after that seemed to have gone by so fast. Within those periods, Kiba and Shino and many of the other rookie nine lost at their matches. Hinata managed to stay on top; although one of her matches left her unconscious on the very last day before the final match. So when she arrived the next day, she had no clue who she was going fight. _

_When she arrived at the stadium, the crowds were already cheering for the two finalists. My opponent must be strong to have made it this far, Hinata contemplated scratching her chin. She was the only one left on her side, and all the other sides were empty as well. The examiner came to the middle of the stadium and the audience ceased their cheering. _

"_Will Hyuuga Hinata and Haruno Sakura make their way to the middle of the arena," the examiner maturely spoke. What in heaven's moogly googly! I-I'm fighting that…t-that thing! Hinata couldn't rejoice at that fact. This is going to be much more satisfying than beating Ino up. Hinata smiled confidently walking up to the arena. But once Sakura was in her view, she resorted back to her stern face. _

"_Hinata-chan, I saw your fight with pig-head and I guess I'm here to give you your retribution on her account," Sakura smiled confidently clenching her fist. Hinata smiled back._

"_I understand Sakura-san, but when you have no motives yourself, you lack the anger you need to punish that person to the maximum," Hinata said calmly. She saw Sakura spit._

"_And I would need advice from you because? I don't know if you forgot but I happen to be your opponent, meaning I beat just the same amount of people to get here as you did, so it would be more wise to keep advices to yourself rather than sharing it with your opponents, Hinata-chan," Sakura added saying Hinata's name as if she were scolding a child. _

"_I'm sorry for angering you Sakura-san. Well it seems like our match will begin soon. Good luck," Hinata said extending out her hand. Unlike the handshake with Gaara, she was not issuing a bond of friendship with her. Sakura scoffed and grasped Hinata's hand. Both girls gave a tight grip to each other. _

"_For this past week, we have seen fights that have by far never been seen in the previous chuunin exams. I am pleased with the outcomes of how strong our genins are becoming. Hyuuga Hinata, Haruno Sakura, step up," Tsunade flicked her arms towards them. Hinata and Sakura approach the front of the kage's sitting area. Hinata looked up and caught Gaara's gaze. He had been watching her the whole time hasn't he? She gave him a big smile with sincere eyes. She saw him chuckle and give a warm smile back. Hinata felt her heart warm; who would've ever thought that the smile from a friend can make you feel so warm inside. Hinata shook her head and paid attention to Tsunade again._

"_I am very proud of you two today. You have proven that both your strength and wits account for chuunins when they're in battle. Your stamina has also been taken into account since you have fought for nearly a weak without any days rest. I expect a good match between you too, and I'm quite sure the audience expects to see a grand match as well. Good luck you two," Tsunade ended placing her hands on her hips looking towards them then shifting it towards the crowds. The crowd roared with excitement. Even though none of the foreign ninjas had made it to the final, the people in the crowd stayed to watch this battle. _

_Hinata and Sakura made their way back to the middle of the stadium. Sakura had her hands on her hips as well. "Tsunade-sama has trained me under her hand for two years now; you should watch yourself Hinata-chan," Sakura warned._

_Like I give a damn; Yondaime could've been teaching you and he would've well plunged himself into suicide because of your annoying mouth. Not to mention you'd probably be hungry over his looks too. Hinata wanted to say that aloud but she refrained from doing so. Besides, I believe that even Itachi or possibly even Neji is stronger than Tsunade herself. Just because she has that title doesn't mean she's the strongest…I'll leave you to think that Sakura. _

_The examiner backed away from them and raised his hands. "Begin!" _

_The crowds cheered as the two girls stared down at each other. Two years can make a whole lot of difference to ninjas considering what they've gone through. The two girls facing each other are much different from their first chuunin exams, and their first taste of the fear that they could feel for one another. _

_Sakura tried staring down Hinata but she kept a calm exterior and only smiled in return. Sakura started her first assault. She ran towards Hinata and summoned two clones of herself. They all rapidly threw punches at Hinata only to find her dodging them with accuracy. Hinata quickly struck her palm against two of the three figures and they disappeared with a poof. She then proceeded to attack the real Sakura only to find her giving a huge slam to the ground with her fist. _

_The foundation beneath Hinata's feet started to tremble and crackle away. She hopped from one small piece of dirt to another only to find Sakura pursuing her. As she leaped away from each of her punches, Sakura's fist collided with dirt, causing more shakes to occur. Hinata finally found stable ground far from the center seeing Sakura stopping right in front of her. Sakura couldn't fight on loose dirt either. _

_Hinata activated her Byakugan; she didn't want to rely on it a lot but she was born with it so might as well use it. She immediately saw all of her tenketsus. Which ones should I strike, but before she could formulate anything Sakura already started her next assault. She tossed shurikens toward Hinata in which she knew that there were explosive tags already attached to them. She lunged away letting the blast carry her a little farther away. There were debris everywhere so she took the advantage to see through the dust. She made various clones of herself and went inside the dust spotting Sakura immediately. _

_Sakura sensed incoming bodies and punched a few here and there but found her jaw being collided with a charka filled palm. "Shit!" she retracted grabbing that clone and throwing it against another. Hinata quickly set forth to closing some tenketsus but found Sakura fighting back. As the dust resided, Sakura could see well again and she found Hinata a few feet away from her. She quickly performed some healing jutsus to open up the closed tenketsus and lunged towards Hinata. Hinata saw Ino in Sakura's current attack and side stepped her. However, Hinata didn't expect Sakura to grab a hold of Hinata's right arm and pull her up. Hinata's back came crashing down on the earth. She looked up to see Sakura smiling at her._

"_I just remembered something Hinata-san," Sakura said approaching Hinata slowly. Hinata stood up with her back straight showing that she was not nervous about their current situation. "You had a crush on Naruto didn't you?" Once Hinata heard her mention that name, her speed kicked up and Sakura found her face meeting the end of Hinata's sandals. Hinata however didn't stop there and continued to thrust her palms against Sakura's body remembering what she did with her clones before. Sakura couldn't find a way to escape, her attacks were too rapid. Hinata kicked her stomach with ferocity and Sakura found herself a few feet away. "B-but, a-at least I…I have s-someone w-who admires me and l-loves me. At least I have someone by my side," Sakura managed to choke out. _

_Hinata froze. Her words struck. Sakura did have someone by her side whether she felt the same way towards him or not. And to Naruto, Sakura was his world. Was she the world to anyone?_

_Sakura noticed her halting and took advantage of this. She swiftly punched Hinata in the stomach causing her to slouch over and she brought her elbow down on Hinata's head. Hinata's head made contact with the ground and bounced back up only to have Sakura kick her farther out. _

_Sakura ran towards her and start punching her at various places. Wait! Itachi…he's always been there for me. And Neji, he's always been at my side. They mean the whole world to me, and they do care for me. Even Gaara cares for me to watch me from afar. How often does he smile to people? I do not have someone by my side; I have people by my side. Hinata felt a burst of energy course through her body. Sakura was about to punch her in the face but Hinata quickly moved out of the way and grab a handful of her hair. Sakura was shocked by this but couldn't react quickly enough when Hinata brought her face smashing to the ground with full force. Sakura blacked out immediately and Hinata fell back. She was breathing heavily, and perspired by hundreds of drops. The examiner came and hovered over their bodies. Hinata had her eyes closed panting away. The crowds couldn't see close enough but they did see two people lying on the ground. _

_The examiner checked Sakura and her lids were half open. He checked Hinata and managed to conclude she was still conscious, just tired or beaten. _

_He rose up, and the crowds silenced themselves. "Winner, Hyuuga Hinata!"_

_There was a gasp in the audience. Most likely no one expected that the apprentice of the Hokage would lose to the former outcast of the Hyuuga clan. After the confusion washed over, they looked over to see Hinata slowly standing up. She looked out to the crowd and gave them a big smile. The crowd applauded, cheered, yelled, screamed, and did anything possible to show that they were impressed with the battle. Hinata heard her name chanting in one certain area to find the rookie nine there with her younger sister. They made signs and posters for her. Hinata did a full 360, looking for any signs of Neji or Itachi. The medic nins had arrived to take Sakura to the hospital and Hinata smiled seeing her dwindling form in the view. She looked back up to the crowds finding Neji sitting next to Hanabi. She waved her arms towards him silently mouthing 'thank you' and did that repeatedly until she felt tears come. She saw Neji wave back with a smile on his face, mouthing 'you're welcome' and motioning for her keep on crying. If that's where Neji is, I wonder where Itachi-san is. She quickly darted her gaze back and forth through the crowds but still couldn't spot him. _

"_Hyuuga Hinata, please step forward," Tsunade's voice boomed through the crowds cheering. The noise disappeared as the footsteps of Hinata's made their way towards the kage area. Hinata looked up to Tsunade who had a big smile on her face. _

"_As you know, your outstanding skills as a ninja have been viewed by all today and this past week. Out of over two hundred participants, you haven risen above all and is the only one left standing. As the Hokage of Konoha-gakure, I will grant you any wish that you may want." Hinata scratched her chin a bit, she contemplated for a quick while and finally decided. She skillfully jumped up to meet with Tsunade. Hinata whispered her wish into Tsunade's ears and Tsunade nodded back at her. "I will grant Hinata's wish and the knowledge of it will only be for her. Thank you all very much to come witness this year's chuunin exams. The results of the ninjas who passed will be delivered to their respective villages. Thank you all!" Tsunade shouted dismissing everyone. _

_She turned back towards Hinata, "Are you sure that's what you want?" Tsunade questioned giving her a smirk._

_"Yes Hokage-sama," Hinata nodded. _

_"Alright kid, a couple of years from now then," with that Tsunade left with her escort, Shizune. _

_Hinata turned to her right and saw Gaara standing there. "I'm impressed Hinata-san, you have grown quite well," Gaara said hiding the blush behind his kage hat. Hinata's blush though, showed fully well._

"_T-thank you Kaze-" _

"_I'll allow only you to call me by my name," Gaara interrupted extending his hand towards her. "I wish I could stay a little longer, but I need to handle affairs back at Suna," he stated as Hinata brought her hand to grasp his larger one. Even if Gaara was only at the mere age of fourteen, puberty hit him hard._

_Hinata squeezed his hand lightly. "I'm also sad that you can't stay for long. I was hoping my friends and I could celebrate the end of the chuunin exams. But if you have to go, you have to go. I know! I'll make it up to you. The next time you visit, we'll go do something," Hinata offered grinning from cheek to cheek. _

"_That would be nice. But I'll be leaving now, farewell Hinata-san," Hinata heard him say sorrowfully. She saw him turn to leave with his guards but tugged at his sleeve. "Yes-" Gaara found himself squeezed by two pale, beaten arms. He looked down to see Hinata's white orbs staring up at him. She gave him a warm smile._

"_Make sure you visit soon, Gaara-san," Hinata softly whispered squeezing him tighter. Gaara finally came to his senses to put his arms around her. No one, I repeat, no one has ever hugged him before. The sensation of another warm body felt so relaxing, so much…content. _

"_I'll make sure to Hinata-san," Gaara whispered back to her giving her a tighter squeeze. They stayed like that for a couple of seconds before Gaara's guards coughed. "I really have to leave now Hinata-san, I promise I'll visit you," he said walking away._

_Hinata smiled at his retreating form. "Take care Gaara-san!" she shouted before sighing her relief. Everything was over with; she got the chance to kick Sakura's butt and she won with Tsunade agreeing to wish._

_Hinata immediately left the stadium, determined to find Itachi. She ran towards his home and found no one there; people must be celebrating the end of the chuunin exams. She got an idea and started running. When she arrived at the training grounds, she saw that no one was there also. She turned around but was quickly put to a halt by two arms. She felt Itachi embrace her from behind. _

"_Itachi-san…" Hinata said turning to face him. She smiled and jumped on him wrapping her arms around his neck. Tears were dripping down her face. "Thank you! Thank you…" Hinata kept repeating over and over again tightening her hold. _

Yes, two years ago was when she proved to herself she can accomplish something. She looked back up at Itachi and gave him a smile. He saw this and raised a brow but smiled in return. They were about to continue their spar when Sasuke interrupted them.

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A/N: So yea there goes Hinata's thought. I swear, there won't be such a massive flashback anymore! I'm so sorry I kept you guys waiting for so long. I'll make it up with this 19 page chapter. But yea, I really really really really infinite power hate Sakura and other Sasuke obsessed fan girls. I sorta don't mind Tenten as much but then she's Hinata's obstruction to get to Neji. Gaara has a special place for Hinata too . Itachi is always the sweetheart. Neji's the overclose brother. Sasuke's the bad boy being tamed. Ugh, I can't wait to unleash it.Yea I left ya hanging trying to figure out what Hinata's wish was. It'll be revealed soon though. But thanks so much for reading! Oh and I finally ate some dango the other day. Yummy in my tummy. 

R&R please.


	7. Chapter 7

Hey you guys! Alrighty, like I promised, I said I would be getting updates out faster so here it is!

Blue-Shine-Angel- thank you all the time for reviewing. haha i'm sorry to keep you waiting but here's the next one

Kichou- i hate ino and sakura period. i dont know why but it must be because they represent the shallow class of girls that are poorly portrayed on high school movies. but yea i'm envious of her too! i want hugs! oh and thanks for the tip with sasuke...i think you'll see that in the story

Lems- haha i root for you! i don't really like tenten either since she likes neji and only HINATA IS SUPPOSE TO! but anyhowie, haha. i think itachi would have been a very sweet guy compared to sasuke if that massacre didn't occur. so yea...thanks for the review!

Kohaku of the Ice- well technically i only detailed those fights on a wim and they just happened to be girls. but i did mention that she fought other people for the past few days, i just didn't bother with it because i was trying to emphasize the rivalry she had with all these other girls

inuyashastories1- yes i do hate sakura. and possibly naruto for liking her. but go you for hating her too! i'm glad you like the story so far!

rcr- hahaha. yes he did. thank you SO much for all your reviews. i was really shocked to find so many reviews from the same person. i've read all your stories before and i just love them all. i was surprised to find one of my most favorite authors review on my own work. iono, neji gets to me as the possessive type. and i love brother rivalry since sasuke naturally always wants to do better than itachi. yea itachi's a perv. in fact, i think in my story, all the guys are. lmao. santa-claus wannabe? lmao. omg, we think too alike!

loujane14- yay! you're new to my review list but thank you so much! i'm glad you're enjoying it, i'm having a rather fun time writing it too

Mareno Mikato- hahahahhaa thanks. to be honest, i actually wanted to make this story a lil' angsty buuuuuut blah. yea itachi is hot

summer-loven-2 - i know! i hate them too! but i'm a hypocrite so blah! thanks for reviewing!

AzngrlQT- you seem like you have such a bubbly personality! i love your reviews, they make me laugh. haha. i'm glad you smile 24/7, its good to know that there are people who can make others smile just by being able to smile themselves.

Thank you for all your reviews! I really appreciate them all! If I forgot someone, please message me.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I wanna own Itachi though.

* * *

**Chapter: 7 **

"Hey! What are you two doing? I thought I was going to fight her Itachi," Sasuke spat out pissed off at the fact that they started without him.

"You took too long Sasuke-san," Hinata said standing straight up again. _I'm not going to get to fight Itachi then._ She saw Sasuke scowl. She let out a light giggle before saying, "I'm sorry Sasuke-san, I guess I did sort of promise you that I would fight you."

Sasuke felt a little itch tugging at him. "You don't have to apologize, just fight me," he said turning his head.

"Alright, I guess I can spar with you later Itachi-san," she said giving him a smile. _Stupid idiot brother of mine, how dare he take away my precious time with Hinata here. _Itachi hid the anger he felt and just nodded his head.

Hinata saw Gaara follow up behind Sasuke. Apparently he wanted to see the fight or rather he wanted to see how much she's grown. "Hinata-san, is it a bother if I witness the spar?" Gaara questioned tilting his head to one side.

"Of course not Gaara-san!" Hinata yelped feeling a blush coming along. "After all, you've always watched my fights haven't you?" she giggled. _He's seen all of her fights? I never even knew they were friends! _Itachi inwardly groaned; their somewhat secret friendship seems to have brought out the most frustration in him.

"Hyuuga, you're being rude. You're suppose to address him by Kaze-"

"She gets the privilege to call me by my name, Uchiha," Gaara snapped at him.

Sasuke looked at Gaara and then to Hinata. _How does she do this to Itachi and Gaara? _"Well, make sure you don't interrupt me during the match, Kazekage-SAMA," Sasuke said grabbing Hinata forcefully by the wrist and was about to drag her away when he was pulled back as he moved forward. Sasuke turned around angrily thinking Itachi was holding onto her but found out that Hinata stood just as still as she did before he grabbed her wrist. Sasuke didn't make the forceful contact because of jealousy or possessiveness, he just wanted to start their little match and she wasn't persistent about it enough. Sasuke snapped back into reality as Hinata spoke.

"Would you mind letting me go Sasuke-san?" Hinata asked in a calm manner. Sasuke couldn't quite grasp the idea that Hinata actually stopped him from pulling her just standing there. Still unbelieving of reality, Sasuke wanted to test it. He yanked forcefully at her wrist again and she actually followed him forward but then Hinata turned and flipped him over onto the ground.

"What-" Sasuke was about to yell but stopped when he opened his eyes and saw directly into the opaque eyes of the annoying Hyuuga girl. She was mere inches away from him, smirking.

"I'm not quite sure about you, but I was taught to let go if someone told me to let them go. Especially if it's a young lady like myself," Hinata remarked pulling Sasuke up. Itachi and Gaara had already seated themselves a few feet away on the roots of a tree nearby. Itachi couldn't be more than annoyed to see Sasuke touch that whom he cared most about. Gaara on the other hand found the entire scene amusing. Hinata had always surprised him in manners he couldn't very well explain himself. The first surprise was at the chuunin exams four years ago; her spirit that popped out of nowhere. That was then followed by the meeting with her at the training grounds and then finally the chuunin exams with her victory over Sakura. _She sure has a few twists and turns, _Gaara thought looking at the arguing couple a few feet away.

"So you're ready Sasuke-san?" Hinata said with intimidation.

"I wouldn't need to be to fight you, Hyuuga," Sasuke snapped back.

Hinata took a quick leap forward and thrashed her palms towards him. He easily dodged and attempted to grab for her head. The sliver of her hair was barely grazed by his fingertips as she managed to slip away just in time to grab onto his leg. She attempted to toss him over to the ground but he ended up swinging his captured leg forward making Hinata lose her hold on him. Hinata found herself on the ground and immediately jumped up to catch sight of Sasuke. She couldn't see him but she refused to use her Byakugan until he activated his Sharingan. She closed her eyes and tried to feel where there were chakra sources. Just as Sasuke was landing on top, Hinata rolled away and threw two forks at him. Sasuke was caught off guard at her choice of weapon but immediately grabbed them just as they made it towards him.

"Very funny…" Sasuke glared at her as she revealed three spoons in her hand. Sasuke could've sworn he heard laughter in the background. Sasuke ran up to Hinata with a fork in both hands. The clinging and clashing of metal utensils could be heard throughout the vicinity. Sasuke however, managed to ripped away two spoons of hers with his forks. Sasuke had to admit she was pretty good with her spoonmanship, although he couldn't really believe that they were fighting with household utensils.

Gaara and Itachi watched the two with bemused expressions. Apparently it seems that Hinata had grabbed a few items of war before leaving the restaurant. They had all gone there, with the exception of Gaara, as a formal meeting so no one decided to bring their holster packs or other weapon items. So now Itachi was annoyed that his pupil was losing to his little brother and Gaara could only laugh at their kitchen ware confrontation.

Hinata had little options left, more like one spoon left and she had to quickly think about what to do with it. She bent the spoon quickly without Sasuke's notice and threw it at him. Sasuke saw the spoon and merely dodged it thinking that she must have thought that he was off guard or something. He was about to attack with his two forks until his head moved slightly forward forcefully with a loud clank. He looked down on the ground to see the spoon Hinata had thrown.

"I guess you've never heard of boomerangs…" Hinata tried muffling her laughter as she looked at the confused visage of Sasuke's. She couldn't keep it in and just started to laugh hysterically at him. _He looks so confused and lost! It's such a funny and rare sight! _ There was a quick whiz that went right by her head and made a _thunk _with the tree behind her. She felt something drizzle down her face and she held up her hand to feel warm liquid. She withdrew her hand to look at it and found out it was blood. He sliced the first layer of her skin with a mere fork and this was all due to the fact that she was off guard laughing at him. She smiled, knowing that the person who will be training her is stronger than her. She turned towards Sasuke who was currently smirking at her and was about to comment when she felt a strong, angry presence very close. With the blink of an eye, Hinata saw Sasuke's neck being gripped by a strong pale hand.

"Itachi…" Sasuke managed to choke out.

Itachi had enjoyed listening to Hinata's laughter at Sasuke but the laughter ceased. He looked over to Hinata and found that Sasuke had thrown the fork cutting the first layer of her skin and causing thick red blood to drip down her delicate face. Itachi had in the past hurt Hinata before, and he always regretted doing it later but they were training and he was only trying to ensure that she would gain experience from it. This however did not involve him fighting Hinata but someone else. And seeing Hinata hurt even if just by a little due to someone else's actions angered him immensely. He was furious and his Sharingan activated its orbit unconsciously.

"Itachi-san!" Hinata ran towards Itachi and gripped his arm that was holding Sasuke up by the throat. Itachi didn't budge and Sasuke was turning a dark shade of blue. "Itachi-san, let go of him!" Itachi still didn't move and Sasuke didn't fight back anymore. "ITACHI!" Hinata screamed grasping tightly to Itachi's arm.

Itachi blinked willing away the orbit and turned towards Hinata. She looked worryingly at him and he let the now unconscious Sasuke fall through his fingers. "Hinata…san," Itachi whispered getting close to Hinata. He lifted her chin so he could get a better view of her face. He lifted his finger lightly over her delicate features and touched the spot where blood was drizzling out.

"It's nothing Itachi-san, just a nick," Hinata said pulling her face away from his hand. "I've had far worse injuries than this little thing," she chuckled kneeling down to Sasuke's body. She nudged him with one arm but he didn't stir. "I think you killed you," she stated.

"I wish," he stoically responded.

"I've never seen this color of blue before," she retorted.

"Well I guess you have now," he calmly suggested.

"He's not moving," she whispered.

"I'm glad," he sarcastically scoffed.

"What should we do with him?" she questioned.

"Nothing," he answered.

"Maybe I should give him CPR," she pondered.

"Maybe you shouldn't," he snapped back.

"He's still unconscious," she said worryingly.

"Silence is a virtue, especially for him," he softly said before walking a little ways in front of Sasuke. He raised his foot a bit and brought it down forcefully on one of Sasuke's foot.

"AHHH YOU MOTHER-" Sasuke stopped as he realized he was yelling at Hinata. "What's WRONG with you SERIOUSLY!" he screamed at her.

"Little brother, such hostility towards my pupil might cause another black out for you," Itachi said through clenched teeth. Oh yea, Sasuke was MUCH better being unconscious.

"You! You stepped on my foot! Wait, what happened anyways? I thought I was fighting her and then…" Sasuke trailed off.

"Itachi-san knocked you out," Gaara said from afar.

"He did?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Then the realization hit him and he turned to Itachi. "You knocked me out! What the hell for! I didn't do anything but win our spar. You obviously failed to train her right-" Sasuke felt a fist collide with his jaw. He looked up at Itachi and noticed he hadn't moved, he turned to the direction the punch came from and realized it was a sand made fist that punched him.

"Please do not keep insulting my friend," Gaara threatened walking towards them. "Besides, I believe Hinata-san here won the match."

"What! She's obviously the only one injured here! Not to mention she shouldn't have let her guard down laughing at me," Sasuke shouted. Everyone was taking her side.

"Yes but the moment the spoon hit you and your confusion took over, she won the match. If this were a real fight, she would've been able to end you while you were confused," Gaara calmly said.

"Don't be lecturing me on fighting, Kazekage-SAMA," Sasuke spat out.

"Did you want to fight me then?" Gaara smirked cracking his knuckles.

"W-wait! Sasuke-san officially won the match. I shouldn't have continued laughing at him like that. If it were a real fight, he would've ended me when I let my guard down," Hinata desperately called out. She didn't want them to fight because they were both angry at each other. An anger led match is much more dangerous than a planned one. "So you guys don't have to fight…" she said in a barely audible tone. She felt a warm hand being placed on her shoulder.

"You're right Hinata-san. At least you know when you're defeated, you're not a sore loser like Uchiha here who is an annoying winner," Gaara said giving her a smile. Hinata giggled.

Itachi seeing the comfort level between Hinata and Gaara heighten brought up a different matter. "We've been out here for awhile; I believe they're waiting for us back at the restaurant. It would be rude to upset the elders," Itachi said indicating their departure from Gaara.

"Aww, you're right but Gaara-san…do you want to come back with us?" Hinata asked giving him the puppy face to persuade him. Itachi was about to comment when Gaara interrupted.

"I'm sorry Hinata-san, but I need to get back to Suna real quick. I happen to have left during the middle of a meeting and I'm quite sure they're looking for me," Gaara apologetically answered.

"Oh…ok then," Hinata frowned but smiled again. "Alright then, just make sure you come back and visit soon! The last time you said you would visit, it took two years! I'm not going to wait that long anymore. If it takes more than two months, I'll be going to Suna myself."

Gaara gave her a smile and patted her on the head. "Hey!" Hinata disliked it when people pat her on the head. It was an act meant for a child and she didn't feel like a child. She's matured and she wanted to be treated that way. But she'll allow only her closest friends to do that to her.

"I promise Hinata-san," Gaara whispered into her ear and pulled her into a hug. Itachi's eyes widened and he had the sudden urge to rip Hinata from Gaara's grasp and desecrate those arms that touched her. Sasuke watched with annoyance but also with amusement. He was watching his brother's reaction to Gaara's actions and felt like laughing.

Hinata hugged Gaara back and whispered back to him. "You better." With a final squeeze Hinata let him go and Gaara started to walk away.

"Farewell Uchiha, Itachi-san, take care of yourself Hinata-san," Gaara said disappearing with his sand. _That felt good. _

"Take care Gaara-san!" Hinata yelled as the sand disappeared. Hinata turned back towards them and gave them a smile. "Well, I guess we should be heading back."

With that said, the three started to make their way back to the restaurant. When they arrived, they were surprised to find the restaurant almost empty and void of any members from both clans. However, Hinata noticed one person who was still there.

"Neji!" Hinata called out running towards her beloved cousin.

"Hinata, where have you been? And what's with the cut on your cheek?" Neji asked furiously grabbing the side of her face and turning it towards him. "Who did this to you?" he angrily looked at Itachi and Sasuke who just stood there.

"I did. We just had a little-" Sasuke had to duck before Neji's fist met his face. Neji had his Byakugan activated and he was giving intent stares at Sasuke.

"You hurt Hinata! You're going to pay for that Uchiha!" Neji was about to run towards Sasuke who readied himself but was abruptly pulled back by Hinata.

"Neji, you didn't let him finish. I agreed to have a little spar with him and I just got injured during it. That's all that happened," Hinata said looking him straight in the eye. Neji sighed and deactivated his Byakugan. When Hinata gave him that look, he couldn't argue with her any further.

"Alright, when we get home I'll help you patch it up. It's almost night time and your father would be worried about you hanging around with people like that idiot right there," Neji said turning his back to the Uchihas.

"I don't care if my father worries, let him worry," Hinata said defiantly.

"You want to say that to my face Hyuuga?" Sasuke said finally catching on to what Neji had said. Both Hyuugas turned around. "The ugly Hyuuga-" Sasuke quickly clasped his mouth with both of his hands. _Crap. Crap crap crap crap crap crap CRAP. _Sasuke felt a blush coming along and Hinata felt her cheeks burning too. _Sasuke doesn't think I'm ugly? What does he think of me then? _Itachi wanted to pounce on his little brother. _That little mother- _

"If you want to say something, you should complete your sentences Uchiha. Come on Hinata," Neji said indicating his departure. Hinata turned back to Itachi and ran towards him. She jumped on him and hugged him around his neck tightly.

"I hope I see you tomorrow Itachi-san, we haven't trained together in a week and it's sort of killing me," Hinata said feeling Itachi wrap his arms around her as she laid her head on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry but I have a mission tomorrow, I'll try and finish that as soon as possible to come and visit you," Itachi replied letting her go.

"O-ok then, make sure you take care of yourself during your mission. Don't get hurt," she said giving him her warm smile. Sasuke walked up next to Itachi. _Ugh the care in the air is so annoying._ "Ok then. Well I have to be leaving then, good luck with your mission Itachi-san. Take care Sasuke-san!" Hinata yelled waving her arms back at them while running towards Neji. Once their figures were out of sight she walked calmly next to Neji.

"So where did you guys go Hinata?" Neji asked without looking at anything in particular.

"We went to the training grounds where we saw Gaara-san," Hinata responded. Hinata didn't know it but Neji followed her group until Sasuke was mauled by his fan girls and that was when he lost sight of Hinata. It angered him that both Hinata and Itachi disappeared and Sasuke was left which meant that Itachi obviously wanted to be alone with Hinata. Neji had always known that Itachi had somewhat a deep and very long crush on Hinata but so did he. When he saw Hinata give Itachi a hug earlier, he wanted to beat Sasuke to a pulp. Sasuke would be the absorber of his anger since Neji knew fully well he couldn't take on his higher ranking officer. He wasn't going to let Itachi win the girl of his dreams. If that happened, he'd kiss Sasuke in front of everyone.

"You saw Kazekage-sama at the training grounds? What was he doing there?" Neji questioned wondering why the strongest ninja of sand village would be visiting Konoha by himself.

"Oh. Apparently he ran away during a boring meeting and he took refuge in Konoha. I thought it was a little funny but he got into an argument with Sasuke so Itachi told him we had to go," Hinata said sounding a little sad. Neji caught this.

"Kazekage-sama's your friend Hinata?" Neji asked already knowing the answer. Hinata nodded. She was the only one to call him by his name while everyone else used his title. Not to mention Hinata's fun loving attitude probably even got through to Gaara. Hopefully Gaara didn't have a thing for Hinata like every other guy did. It would be more competition for him; not that he was worried, since Hinata opened up to him the most but it would be a nuisance knowing other guys chased the same girl he did.

As they entered through the gates, Neji almost forgot to remind Hinata what happened at the restaurant. It caused quite an inner turmoil for him but he had to tell her. He turned to look at her but saw a smile crept up on her face. She looked too content to have her day spoiled. _Well, I guess she'll learn soon then. _They took off their shoes and made their way towards their room. Before that, Neji worried about Hinata. "Did you eat anything Hinata?" Hinata shook her head.

"I guess we spent too long at the training grounds that we forgot to have dinner. I guess I'll go make myself a quick snack before I head off to bed," Hinata yawned stretching out her legs and arms before heading off to the kitchen.

"I'll come with you," Neji said wanting to spend more time with her.

When they got to the kitchen, no one was there. It seemed like everyone went back to their rooms already and all that were awake was Hinata and Neji. "I'll cook us both something," Hinata said turning around only to feel something wet on her face. She looked up and Neji had been rubbing the side of her cheek with a wet towel.

"You didn't clean up the wound that idiot caused for you," he softly said rubbing circles on her cheek. Hinata didn't want to admit it but the motion felt good. It was so caring and it definitely warmed her face up. She placed her hand over his to stop the motion.

"Thanks Neji," she whispered rubbing her face on his warm hand. Neji's heart skipped a beat. He looked at her with her eyes closed and her soft hand over his. He wanted to nuzzle his face against hers but she pulled away.

"Oh crap! I forgot to ask you what happened at the meeting we had," Hinata yelped. _I guess I might as well tell her now. _Hinata saw Neji sigh. When she sees Neji sighs, that means he's annoyed and he's most likely annoyed by what he has to tell her.

"Alright then. I was figuring to tell you tomorrow to not ruin your day but as you know our clan and the Uchihas have always had a strong rivalry towards each other. The elders of both clans decided today to weaken that rivalry and…" Neji trailed off closing his eyes.

"And what?" Hinata asked anxious to find out what it is.

"And to do that, they decided to…trade off the heirs and heiresses," Neji finished looking to see Hinata's reaction. Hinata was lost, _trade heirs and heiresses?_

"What do you mean by trade Neji?" she questioned scratching her head.

"Well this is how it goes. This will be for a couple of months but you will be staying at the Uchiha manor while Itachi, the Uchiha heir would be staying…here," Neji scowled, not liking the idea that he would have to see Itachi everyday in place of Hinata. "This is to have the heirs and heiresses get familiar with the other clan, so that when it comes to their reign, there wouldn't be many disputes," Neji sighed again.

Hinata took a pot out and started to boil some water. She didn't worry much about that decision since by far it would have to be one of the most effective things that the two clans have done for a very long time. She would be sad not being able to see Neji greet her when she came home everyday but she could train with Sasuke since she wanted to get admittance into ANBU. _Oh karma. Seeing Sasuke everyday…is that a good thing? He doesn't even like me; I can only imagine how he'll treat me in his own home. _"So when does this begin Neji," Hinata asks dropping some noodles into the boiling water.

"It starts next week. Itachi-san will be informed when he gets home so yea…" Neji didn't want to tell Hinata that he'll probably end up poisoning Itachi. "Here you go," he said handing her some spices.

"Oh thanks. But that means I won't be able to hang out with you in a couple of months Neji," she said sadly.

"Well, we can go out a lot this week to make up for it," he said giving her a smile as she took the pot off the stove.

"That's true, since Sasuke will be training me when I move there," Hinata softly commented.

"What! Why is that bastard training you? I thought Itachi-san or I will be training you. We have been for the past few years," Neji shouted showing his anger. "Did you not want to train with us anymore?"

Hinata felt a little bad. She forgot to tell Neji she wanted to join the ANBU squad with him and Itachi. "Well…t-that's because I w-wanted to join ANBU…" she quietly trailed off blowing on the noodles.

"What?" Neji pondered.

"I know you're going to ask me why I won't train with you or Itachi-san to get into ANBU since you both are in it, but Sasuke-san is too. And well, I just thought…" Hinata lost some confidence looking at Neji's expression. He looked hurt. "Neji, I just thought you should have some time to train with your teammates and Itachi has a lot of responsibility as ANBU captain," she confidently stated.

"I train enough with my teammates. In fact, that's all I did those years ago and now I have to make up time I lost being angry at you," Neji responded grabbing hold of Hinata's shoulders and turning her towards him. Hinata looked up at Neji and saw comfort in his eyes. He really wanted to train with her. _But I have to learn new things. Training with the same people over and over again will not help me to advance further in new techniques. Sasuke even defeated me today with a kitchen fork. _

"Neji…" she realized he was pulling her closer and closer to his body. "I'm training with Sasuke-san to learn new things. You know fully well a person can't just keep strengthening whatever they have, they need to learn a variety of techniques." Neji saw Hinata's face burning red. He just wanted to have a small taste…give her a peck…show her how he felt about her. He was going to go forward but Hinata gave him a hug, snuggling her face into his chest.

"Neji," she whispered.

"Hm?" Neji wrapped his arms around her.

"I think the noodle is done," she pulled back stirring the pot and grabbing two bowls out. She chopsticked noodles into one bowl and the rest into the other. They sat there not arguing about whether Hinata was going to train with him or not since she was bent on training with new people. She assured him that once she got back, she would dedicate her time to training with just him. When they were finish, Hinata took their bowls to the sink and washed them with Neji's assistance. They said good night and made their way towards their respective rooms.

The next morning, Hinata was abruptly awakened by another presence in her room. She grabbed a kunai from her holster near her bed and quickly jumped into a fighting stance. She activated her Byakugan but was caught off guard as strong pale arms wrapped around her and pushed her back towards her bed. "Get off-" she looked up to see crimson eyes staring back at her. "Itachi-san!" she saw him smirk.

"It's good to get your adrenaline working early in the morning," he said pulling her up as he sat on her bed. Hinata deactivated her Byakugan and found herself blushing from their encounter. _Wow, so quick to see you isn't he Hinata? _Indecent Hinata teased.

"U-um…Itachi-san," he turned towards her, "w-what are you doing h-here so early?" she asked showing her full blush to him.

"If you remember me telling you yesterday, I have a mission today and I just thought I could visit you before I go," Itachi said pointing to her clock. Hinata raised an eyebrow; it was only five-thirty. She was about to yell but Itachi covered her mouth and told her softly to get ready.

"But, Itachi-san, why this early and how'd you get in here in the first place?" she asked getting up and stretching out her muscles. A few bones cracked here and there before she turned back towards him.

"Hinata-san, are you underestimating my abilities. Stealth is a ninja's signature move," he said lying back down on her bed. Her scent was on her blankets and he snuggled his face into the warm sheets.

"Ok ok… but you know, it's going to be difficult for me to get ready with you in the room," she said blushing trying to pull her shirt farther down to cover her thighs. She hated wearing pajamas to sleep and contented herself with an oversize t-shirt of Neji's, panties and that was all. She turned away too quickly to notice Itachi ogling at her legs.

Hinata looked back over to him and noticed him closing his eyes. _He wants me to change with him in the same room! Hey Hinata, here's your chance to woo him towards you, just raise that shirt a little higher, indecent Hinata nodded. No_!

"I won't look Hinata-san, that would be very ungentlemanly of me to do so," Itachi said with his eyes closed and his arms folded over his chest.

"O-ok, I trust you Itachi-san," she said turning around to pull out her attire. Unbeknownst to her that Itachi did take a peek. He never considered himself to be a gentleman in the first place. Besides, he was a nineteen year old virgin who's never had a girlfriend and the girl he's been crushing on is half naked with him in the same room. How can anyone blame him when the girl in the same room has by far a perfect body? His eyes widened as she pulled her large shirt over her head to reveal her naked upper body. His eyes stared at her nicely toned legs up to her slender thighs to her firm behind. Her underwear was white, what else could he expect from an angel? He trailed his eyes further up to her waist and realized just how curvaceous it was. How it would feel like to wrap his arms around her there… He continued his trail upwards stopping at her naked back. If she would only turn around, her chest would be in view…oh god, he had to stop himself. He realized a certain familiar friction in his pants that he really did not want to have right now. Especially when he could make it go away with a certain someone in the same room who just needs to take off one more article of clothing. He shut his eyes and attempted to will away his 'wanting.'

_Don't you feel like his eyes are watching you Hinata? What! You dare accuse Itachi-san of lying to her! He's a gentleman, or so he says but he wouldn't lie to Hinata!_ Hinata became very self conscious and quickly glanced back over to Itachi, who she saw still, had his eyes closed. _See, and here you were accusing him like that. Cheh, he's a guy! Just look at how Kiba looks at her, the prime age for everyone to grow is now. Besides, I bet if the situation were switched around, Hinata would have taken a peek at Itachi. You're a teen now! Start acting like one._ Hinata shook her head vigorously and quickly dressed.

She turned around to see Itachi still lying down with his eyes closed. "U-umm… you can open your eyes now, Itachi-san," she said twiddling with her fingers again. She saw him rise. "So Itachi-san, where are we going to go?" she said grabbing her holster and snapping it around her right leg.

"To the training grounds; I thought I could make up for yesterday's incident," he said heading towards her window. He slid it open to reveal the dark but fading skies as the early sun made its appearance, "Coming?" he asked extending his hand towards her. She timidly took his hand and they both jumped out onto a tree nearby. They ran towards the training grounds avoiding the early opened shops in the village. Hinata followed behind and felt her blood pumping already. As if sensing her fatigue, Itachi stopped.

"Are you tired Hinata-san?" he asked nearing her. She shook her head.

"I'm just a little groggy from waking up so early," she said trying to stifle a yawn.

"Would you like me to carry you?" he said sternly. _Wah! He wants to carry you Hinata…oh the possibilities! _She bit her lip.

"S-sure…" she hesitantly responded. He turned his back towards her and she hopped onto his back. She had the urge to laugh as she saw him with difficulty written on his face. "Am I that heavy!" she asked with broken laughter.

"Yes you are Hinata-san; I'm quite worried about your health. It's good to say this now when no one's around that I think you let yourself go," he said running through the forest tightly clenching onto her legs. _It's difficult for me since I have to emphasize the fact that her chest is pressed right against my back. Which I might add that they are very soft. _

Hinata smacked him on the head with a free hand, "How rude, I thought you were a gentleman," she laughed.

"And here I believed my pupil to be a lady too," he said pulling the lines of his lips into a smile. She laughed as she tightened her hold around his neck. She started to notice that their surroundings were not the familiar site she would see heading towards their training area.

"Itachi-san, this isn't to the training grounds…" she whispered in his ears.

"I'm glad you noticed. Now you have to do something for me," he said turning his head towards her while keeping his steady pace. "I need you to close your eyes for me until I authorize for you to open them again."

_What? Has he already set up traps for me so that I would use my Byakugan to see through? He's so organized…and prepared._ Hinata nodded her head and closed her eyes. A few minutes later, she felt his body halting. The air she felt around them was rather cool, damp to be precise.

"Hinata-san, you may open your eyes now," he said settling her off his back. _Aww and it was so warm and nice on his back wasn't it Hinata? Quiet, she's opening her eyes…_

Hinata slowly opened her lids to see water; cascading water over luscious green wilderness, made the view for her eyes seem heavenly. "Oh wow…Itachi-san, we're training here?" she heard him laugh.

"Not if you want to ruin the 'moment'," Itachi chuckled out, keeping his eyes fixated on hers.

"Moment? Then what are we doing here?" she questioned cocking a brow. He took a step closer to her and then grabbed a hold of her shoulders and twirled her 180 degrees around.

Hinata took a second to realize what it was. "Itachi-san! D-did you prepare all of this!" she gasped looking back up to him. She saw him smile. In front of her near the edge of the waterfall was a fully laid out blanket with plates and plates of food atop it with porcelain chopsticks on empty plates which she presumed to be theirs. There was also a bouquet of flowers on one side of the blanket.

"I was kidding when I said you let yourself go," Itachi said taking her hand and leading her towards the picnic spread.

Oh my karma. He really is a gentleman. Hinata felt her cheeks rising to a blush. She felt-she couldn't even put it in words about how she felt. The only time she felt this way ever in the past was when Naruto cheered for her. She felt important for once, at least to someone. He knew her so well that he understood that through the fighting and practices they had together, they also needed time off. Hinata couldn't have been more ecstatic. Her heart beat erratically as she realized this was…she couldn't call it a date, but it was between the two of them, and she liked him and they were eating…

Hinata saw him knelt down to pick up the bouquet of flowers. Within seconds, he handed them to her lightly. "I believe that as a gentleman, I need to make a lady feel like a lady once in awhile," he said settling himself down on the blanket.

She settled herself on the blanket with her legs under her smelling the flowers before setting them back down. "Thank you, Itachi-san. I really appreciate that you went through all this for me," she grinned, trying to contain her excitement. No one has ever surprised her like this before, and to be surprised by the person whom she'd suspect to surprise her nonetheless.

"You're very welcomed. I'll have you know that the Uchiha clan does not only specialize in fighting, but our cooking as well," she saw him smirk. Hinata took the chopsticks and picked up a little of something off the plate closest to her and plopped it into her mouth. It was such a savory sensation and it tasted much better than the noodles that she and Neji had the night before.

"Itachi-san, you cooked this? It's delicious!" Hinata yelled trying to show her satisfaction of his cooking.

"I had help from my mother here and there but yes. I have to be able to take care of myself instead of just learning how to fight. If I don't learn how to do that, I'd end up like Sasuke. Stupid and useless," he mannerly stated. Hinata chuckled lightly but then she realized something.

"Itachi-san," Hinata started but Itachi raised his finger.

"Hinata-san, there is one thing I would like to ask of you," he said looking her straight in the eye. Hinata nodded indicating he could ask it. "If you will, can you drop the formality when you address me? We've been _friends _for a very long time, there's no need for you to be formal around me anymore."

Hinata blinked, the only person she spoke with without formalities was Neji and that was because he was so very close to her. But so was Itachi so he did have that right. "O-ok…Itachi…kun," Hinata blushed saying the last part. It felt so awkward but she always addressed Naruto like that and she didn't even address her crush like that now.

"Thank you, Hinata-chan," Itachi gave her a smile. "Was there something you wanted to ask me?"

Hinata blinked, she almost forgot to ask him. "Itachi-san, has your clan informed you about the…decision made yesterday?" Hinata asked looking to see if he was angry or anything. He nodded.

"Yes, my mother informed me once I arrived home with Sasuke. I find it rather…useless," he ended folding his arms across his chest huffing out.

"You find it useless?" Hinata said grabbing something off another plate and stuffing it in her mouth. "I kind of like the idea, even if I don't get to see Neji-nii-san as often as I'd like but I would be able to train with Sasu-"

"THAT is why I do not like the decision," Itachi felt bad about scolding Sasuke for interrupting people but he had to. It angered him that Hinata was going to be living with Sasuke for a few months when he hadn't even done that with her. Not to mention Sasuke would never treat Hinata to how she deserved to be treated and he'd only make her stay at his home sufferable. "I'm sorry Hinata-chan for interrupting you but I don't like the idea of Sasuke being your roommate. He'll be entirely rude to you," Itachi said watching her eat away at his cooking. _At least she's enjoying herself. _

"I do expect him to. Having another female in the house other than your mother would be rather troublesome since all the females he's ever had to deal with in his life involved him running away from them. He hasn't gotten to understand girls or women for that matter," Hinata silently stated. She looked up at Itachi with the chopsticks in her mouth. "Don't worry Itachi-kun; I'll size him up to be as great as his older brother. I'm one of the only few girls who isn't part of his fan club so treating him differently than how other girls do would be a cinch."

Itachi had to agree. Hinata didn't have eyes for Sasuke thank goodness and instead of treating Sasuke like a god she'd react regularly to him. Maybe the brattiness will go away. "I'd like that very much. He's still very immature and I give you permission to act the way you would like to act around him. I'm fine with that but he still gets to see you more often than I do," Itachi closed his eyes in frustration thinking about how great it would be to say good night to her and see her the next morning in the same house.

Hinata leaned forward with some fatty tuna on her chopsticks. "Itachi-kun, we're hanging out now…you should make the most of it. Now open up," she said kneeling in front of him touching the side of his mouth. Itachi's eyes immediately shot open and looked at the smiling Hinata. He opened his mouth slightly and he let her put the food in his mouth. He chewed it slowly not once taking his eyes off of her as she began to stuff her face. It felt so nice to be around her and that would be the reason why he always wants to be around her. She gave him this feeling of completion, something that nothing else has given him. Since she's the only person to make him feel that way, he wanted to be the only person that she would make feel that way. Not Neji, not Gaara, and he didn't need to worry about Sasuke. _I have to tell her soon…she's getting comfortable with a lot of her other friends. I can't stop her from being with them but somehow…_

_I want her all to myself. _

_

* * *

_A/N: So there we go! We got major ItaHina, GaaHina, and NejiHina. As you know, Hinata will be moving in with Sasuke so that means not much time for her to hang out with Itachi and the others (. Oh welps. Suks to them. I'm trying my best to give Itachi a gentleman front but a closest pervert at the same time. Because! He's a teenager, he needs to start feeling like one!

I like the kitchen ware fight because it was something me and my brother did a long time ago. I ended up stepping on the fork and that hurt like a b. I also like Hinata and Itachi's convos, especially the one regarding Sasuke.

As you probably have noticed too...Gaara doesn't seem to like Hinata yet. Neither does Sasuke. But everyone needs room to grow. I'll be adding another confrontation with Sakura. I just read a few stories where they portray that Hinata is weaker than her and I just got angry. She can fight back, she does not need someone like Sasuke to fight for her. I'm not saying those stories are bad, I just get angry at that fact.

There's going to be a lot of anger in the next chappie because I happen to be angry and what is said in a story portrays how the author feels. I just played Warcraft ROC the other day and after the win, my opponent tells me that they need to remind me that they're a girl...which would be their excuse for losing. BUT I'M A GIRL TOO! Ahh I need to blow off some steam and I'll do that with maiming Sakura to death.

Yes...Itachi and Neji are almost ready to tell Hinata how they feel about her. But wait! She's moving in with Sasuke! Oh no! What's going to happen! Even I don't know! hahaha. Well THANK YOU GUYS FOR READING! I love any feedback I get so tell me if you see something wrong! I'm angtsy on grammatical errors!

R&R!


	8. Chapter 8

Hey you guys! I know! It's been over a year since I've updated but what can I say? I've been reallllly busy as of late. It's my last year in high school and a lot of Senior related tasks have been keeping me from pleasing you all. That along with work and 6 AP classes. 

I would like to thank all my dedicated viewers and reviewers for staying with me for these past looong years and months. Thank you for all the comments! I have read and love them all! Keep em' coming! )

I do not own Naruto. 

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**Chapter: 8**

Hinata continued to feed more and more food into Itachi's mouth and once the sun was high in the sky, Itachi had told Hinata he had to leave for his mission. Itachi gathered up the picnic supplies while Hinata aided him and they walked back into the village. They parted ways and Hinata made her way back to her compound. _Hopefully no one had noticed that I was gone…_"Hinata," _too late._

Hinata looked up to the tree that she and Itachi had jumped from and noticed Neji sitting upon it with his arms crossed. "Where were you at this morning?" he asked narrowing his eyes at the bouquet of flowers in her arms. 

"Itachi-kun and I went training before he had to-"BURP! "leave on his mission," she said covering her mouth quickly. 

"Training? And does training involve flowers and stuffing yourself with food?" Neji interrogated her harshly noticing that she referred to Itachi as _kun_.

"Yes," she said calmly. Neji refrained from banging his head against something but he found out his wish came true when the tree started to shake and his head fell first on the ground. 

There was a coarse yell and an apology following right after it. "What the hell was that for!" Neji yelled at Hinata while she closed her eyes.

"Neji, if you must remember, you told me that to speak with someone, you need to keep eye contact. Well I found it rather difficult to do that when you're up there and I'm down here. Solution, you come down here with me!" she said giving him a big smile. Neji suspected that her more-than-cheery attitude was the effect of being around the Uchiha that morning. With that thought in mind, Neji managed a glare toward her. 

"Hinata-_sama_, I'd appreciate it if you did that to where it does not involve me falling from a tree," Neji said through clenched teeth. Lazily, she nodded and covered her mouth with a yawn. "It's a good thing I told your father that I walked you out to the training grounds," he sighed walking next to her as they made their way into the compound. 

Hinata looked up to Neji who really did seem frustrated. _Was he really that worried about me? _"Neji," Hinata quietly whispered. She saw him turn his head indicating her to go on. "Thank you…" 

"It was nothing, Hinata. Just make sure you tell me where you go because whether you believe it or not, there are some people who actually care for teenagers who run off with their _boyfriends_early in the morning," Neji joked pinching her cheeks. Hinata shook her head and tried slapping his hand away with her free hand. 

"Neji-stop that!" Hinata protested. Neji stroked her cheek, receiving a light blush in return.

"HINATA!" boomed a voice coming from inside the house. Hinata and Neji shook away from their trance as they watched the stampeding younger Hyuuga come running up to them. "Nee-san! Where the HELL WERE YOU-are those flowers?" Hanabi asked pointing to the bouquet that was still in Hinata's arms.

"Uh…y-yes they are…" Hinata tilted her head to the side. 

"Oh…WAIT WHAT! Neji! You gave her flowers but you didn't give me any! I'm so hurt…I thought I was your favorite," Hanabi whined pouting her face. 

Neji crossed his arms. "I didn't give those to her Hanabi-sama, Uchiha-san did," Neji clenched his arms while completing the sentence. 

Hanabi's eyes widened at the mention of the handsome ANBU captain. "You were with Uchiha-san this morning? And…and he gave you flowers! I knew it! You two are going out!" Hanabi pointed an accusing finger towards Hinata.

"No they're not."

"No we're not." 

The two sentences came as a union. Neji and Hinata looked at each other and looked back at Hanabi. "Well, I think he likes you anyways nee-san. I've never seen him give flowers to any girls. Watch out Neji-nii-san, Uchiha-san might steal our Hinata from us," Hanabi warned tsking. Neji was getting angry at the mention of Hinata and Itachi as a coupling. Sure he joked around saying that Itachi was her boyfriend but for someone else to notice their closeness meant that it was official or close to it. 

"Hanabi-sama, Hinata and I were making our way into the compound. Let's get in before Hiashi-sama comes out and asks us what we're doing out here," Neji said walking away from the girls.

"Why does he always get like that when we talk about you and Uchiha-san?" Hanabi asked watching her cousin's dwindling form.

"I don't know Hanabi…" Hinata responded clutching tightly to her flowers. 

"Maybe nii-san likes you nee-san," Hanabi nudged Hinata's side.

"Hanabi! I think he is just being overprotective of me…" Hinata finished.

"Maybe so but if he does like you, he'll have to get through me. You're hogging all the good looking guys. Maybe my boobs need to grow as big as yours," Hanabi yelped poking one of Hinata's lumps. 

"Ah! HANABI! Don't do that!" Hinata screamed in response.

"Ok fine. Let's get inside and give those flowers some water before they get smashed up against your gigantic boobs," Hanabi teased. 

"Hanabi!" Hinata couldn't help but blush. 

"Ok ok. Let's get in," Hanabi screeched walking away. Hinata followed.

Hinata made her way to the kitchen and grabbed an empty bottle filling it with water. She proceeded to her room where she took the flowers and settled them into the water. _I'll have to go get a vase for that later. _She stretched and yawned and much to her surprise she felt rather tired. It was a joy to be able to spend some quality time with Itachi like that. Hinata really did want to go out and do some fun things with the people she cared about. All training and no fun makes the brain go dumb, or makes you like Naruto-they're one in the same. _This week will be dedicated to Itachi and Neji. I'll be seeing less of them so I have to make this count. _Hinata nodded and plopped down on her bed face first. She laid there for awhile until she felt a very familiar chakra source nearing her room.

"Hinata?"

"…"

"Hinata I know you're in there," Neji said from the other side of the door.

"…"

"sighs It's not my fault if I walk in on you naked since you won't answer me," Neji sighed again really hoping to walk in on her on such an occasion. He carefully slid the door open and shifted his eyes toward the lump on the floor. He sat himself down next to Hinata's curled up body. She had her head underneath the pillow. "Why are you going to sleep again? It's almost noon," Neji reprimanded. He heard a murmur under the pillow and saw her shift her body closer to the other side of her futon. "Hinata," Neji whispered.

Hinata didn't want anyone to bother her. She was tired and sleepy. She didn't get her regular amount of sleep and she wanted to make up for it. _Darn Neji, I want to sleep, what does he want anyways?_"Mghmgh…" Hinata managed to get out facing away from Neji. She felt her sheets ruffle and a body crawl up next to her. She turned around only to come within mere inches of Neji's face.

"Ah!" Hinata jumped nearly kicking Neji in the face but Neji caught her leg and hauled her back up. His arms were wrapped around her shoulders. Hinata looked up to see Neji's eyes looking back at her. "N-neji…" she managed to get out noticing the intense look he had. 

Hinata quickly realized his closeness to her and immediately flailed her arms to where she shoved Neji's face upward while he held his jaw clenched. 

"UGH!" she heard Neji say through clenched teeth. 

She stopped pushing upwards at Neji's chin and shoved him backward. "What did you do that for!" Neji yelled getting onto his knees to get to eye level with Hinata.

"I-I'm s-sorry, N-Neji-nii-san. Its j-just t-that I- um…r-ready…uhh…" she incoherently trailed off to where Neji didn't even bother to listen to. 

"I'm not going to try and understand what the hell you're trying to say," Neji sighed out of frustration but recomposed himself again, "but do you want…to maybe…go do something today?" Neji asked feeling his anger releasing from him as he saw Hinata straighten up and look him in the eye. 

"Do something? As in go and do something with you Neji?" Hinata pondered. 

"Yes." Neji saw Hinata mouthed an 'oh' and scratched her chin. _Please say yes…_

"Of course! This week is dedicated to my two most trusted friends. So what did you have in mind?" Hinata asked smiling profusely. Neji got up and sat right next to her again, this time distancing himself a little farther away. Their last encounter taught him to not try any more sudden movements. Neji gave her a warm smile after hearing her response. 

"Good. I want you ready within fifteen minutes," Neji stoically commanded. He saw her widen her eyes and furrowed her brow in anger. 

"Fifteen minutes? I would prefer a little nap. Please Neji…nii-san?" Hinata added the last part pouting. 

Neji sighed again. Gosh she was hard to deal with. "I thought you were suppose to be mature, Hinata-_sama_," Neji crossed his arms. 

"Maturity only goes so far when one is with their friends. What are you planning for us to go do?" Hinata asked falling back onto place on her futon and resting her head next to Neji's legs. Neji shrugged his shoulders.

"Spontaneous things…" Neji answered. 

"T-that sounds like fun I guess…but I am still rather t-tired…" Hinata started closing her eyes yet again.

"Alright, never mind then. I promised someone else I was going to train with them later today… I guess I'll just go earlier…" Neji said. This got Hinata's attention as she perked up from her pillow. 

"Oh…really? May I…i-inquire as to whom this person may be?" Hinata nudged him again. Neji shook his head.

"Nope." He simply said. He stifled a laugh as Hinata pouted and folded her arms. "I believe she will be more than happy to accompany me on an outing of some sort…" Hinata narrowed her eyes slightly. _It's most likely Tenten... I shouldn't be irritated in any manner…but somehow I am. I've probably become one of those over-protective cousins…_sighsNeji saw her eyes narrow and smirked. 

"Alright Hinata, I guess I'll be leaving. Have a good nap," Neji said picking himself up. 

Hinata sighed again in frustration. _Argh…_"Neji…" He smirked upon hearing her voice. 

"Yes Hinata-_sama_?" Neji mused, adding the honorific to annoy her. He turned back around to face her just to meet face to face with her blanket over his head.

"Get out of my room. I'll…go…get ready," Hinata strained the end of the sentence. Neji tossed the blanket back onto Hinata's messy futon as she jumped off her bed and stretched. 

"I'll see you 15 minutes then…" Neji said as he walked out of her room with a small smile on his face.

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"What?" was the simple phrase from Sasuke's mouth as he processed the information his mother had been telling him.

"I said, 'the young Hyuuga heiress will be staying with us for a couple of months in place of Itachi,'" Mikoto said frustrated. 

"I know _that_ but what did you say afterwards?" Sasuke questioned eagerly. Mikoto was left sighing again. 

"Well my dear son, I said you have to keep up the mannerisms of the Uchiha clan and treat Hyuuga-san with the utmost respect. She will be in our household for a couple of months. You have to be on your best behavior to make her time here enjoyable," Mikoto finished flicking Sasuke's forehead. Sasuke now knew where Itachi had picked up that annoying habit. 

Sasuke growled. He already had to deal with living with one of Itachi's groupies, now he has to treat her with respect! His mother really didn't consider his feelings. He's Sasuke; he couldn't possibly treat any body his age with two X chromosomes with respect. They certainly didn't treat him with respect. Most girls looked at him like he was a pack of tenderized, sirloin steak meat. Was he a pack of meat? Well biologically yes and with bones but he was a human being that wasn't made for eye ogling. _As long as she doesn't get in my way. _Sasuke scowled as he headed out the door in search for Naruto and the rest of his team. 

As Sasuke walked out the Uchiha complex, he nodded to the guards to indicate his departure. "If father or mother asks, tell them I went training with my teammates," Sasuke said as he walked out the gates. 

He walked briskly into the village scanning for Naruto; he was in the mood to train. His mother instructing him to treat the Hyuuga with respect maddened him. He unfortunately did not find Naruto but he happened to catch a horrible pink monster that haunted Konoha with her presence. 

"Sasuke-kun!" screeched the monster. Sasuke knew about Sakura and Naruto being together but he of course doubted Sakura's loyalty. It was obvious Sakura didn't like Naruto and used him as a medium to make him jealous but that of course didn't work, just like all her other attempts to attract him towards her. Sasuke had never tried to tell Naruto about Sakura's true intentions; he'll let Naruto figure that out on his own. 

Sasuke continued walking but Sakura followed close behind. "Sasuke-kun do you want to go do something?" Sakura purred through her lips, walking conspicuously closer to Sasuke. Sasuke didn't answer her, hoping that she'd get the message. _But she's never gotten the message before…_

"Aren't you going out with Naruto, Sakura? Go find him to bother, leave me alone," Sasuke hissed out snapping his head towards her to show his blazing sharingan. Sakura stepped back just a bit but composed herself and threw on a sultry smile. 

"Oh well, about Naruto and me…well you know, I don't really like him Sasuke-kun…if that's what you're worried about. I will always like you Sasuke-kun. Tell me and I'll end it with him whenever you want me to," Sakura stepped closer to Sasuke and was about to latch her arm onto his until a distinct voice caught their attention.

"Ano…Sasuke-san? Haruno-san?" Hinata's meek voice came out softly. In front of Sasuke and Sakura were Hinata and Neji. Hinata had a couple of bags in her arms as did Neji. "Are you guys out having fun too?" Hinata beamed. She was having too much of a nice time out in the village market with Neji than to care about Sakura's attempts on Sasuke.

Sakura narrowed her eyes. She hated Hinata to no ends. Not only did Hinata beat her in the final rounds of the chuunin exams years ago, embarrassing her publicly, but she had to be a stuck up, powerful Hyuuga bitch acting as if looks and materialistic things don't matter, when they obviously do. _Heh, at least I'll always be able to say I was Naruto's first girlfriend. _That was one area she knew Hinata couldn't beat her in. "Why Sasuke-kun, look, it's the Hyuugas," Sakura plastered on a fake smile. Sakura passed her eyes from Hinata over to Neji. Sakura might hate Hinata but her cousin was delicious looking. Not as cute as Sasuke in her opinion but he was certainly good-looking. Gosh, being a ninja meant being surrounded by such good-looking guys. "So what are you guys doing out in the market?" Sakura asked trying to make a good impression for Sasuke. 

"Neji and I decided to spend the day together, Haruno-san. What are you and Sasuke-san doing?" Hinata matched Sakura's sweetness but with less malice. Neji can tell that both females were thoroughly seething with anger. He glanced over to Sasuke to see him annoyed. 

"Well me and Sasuke-kun were going shop-" 

"Hell no," Sasuke interrupted. He stepped away from her. "Hyuuga," Sasuke started walking up towards Hinata. She turned her milky white eyes toward him. Sakura was getting more angry and jealous by the second. "Do you need help with those?" Sasuke pointed to the bags in Hinata's arms._Mannerisms…mannerisms…mom…finding excuse to get away from Sakura…that must be it._ Hinata's eyes widened. _He's up to something…_

"Um…ano…it's ok Sasuke-san. I can handle these perfectly well on my own," Hinata clutched her bags closer. Neji didn't like what the Uchiha was offering. Being nice to his cousin after cutting her the day before, how dare he!

"Well Sasuke-kun, we can go buy some stuff and you can hold it for me!" Sakura yelled. _Why would you want to hold the stuff for the Hyuuga bitch when you have me!_

Hinata considered the words of Sakura, but she looked at Sasuke and reconsidered. _Well he is going to be my sensei…I better get on his good side._ "Umm, I guess these are a little heavy for me, thank you for your offer Sasuke-san," Hinata softly said handing two bags over to Sasuke. Neji's jaw almost dropped. _What the hell! _

"You're welcome, Hyuuga-san," Sasuke smirked. Sakura's jaw was dropping as well and was about to protest when she heard Naruto's voice.

"Sakura-chan! There you are! What the, teme! What are you doing here with Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled as he slowed to a stop in front of Sasuke and the group. Naruto boldly put his arms over Sakura's shoulders. "Stay away from my Sakura-chan teme!" Naruto warned again but Sasuke only responded with a 'tch.' 

"H-hello Naruto-kun," Hinata started trying to cut the tension between a glaring Naruto and an annoyed Uchiha. "Sasuke-san was holding these bags for me, Naruto-kun."

"Oh hey Hinata-chan! Neji! I didn't see you guys there. Were you guys shopping with Sakura-chan?" Naruto gave his infamous grin while holding an unwilling Sakura closer to him. Sakura's scowl was clearly in view to everyone who wasn't Naruto. 

"Actually Naruto, Hinata and I were out by ourselves until we came upon Haruno-san and the Uchiha here," Neji responded, showing clear dislike on this group's intrusion to his time with Hinata. "Since you're here, I think Hinata and I will continue our outing." Hinata turned to look at Neji. It was clear that he disliked this additional company and she didn't want to anger him any further. It would only ruin the time she had left with him.

"H-hai...umm we'll see you guys later ok? Neji and I still have a lot of shopping to do," Hinata softly said trying to persuade them.

"Oh of course, we'll see you later _Hinata-chan­_," Sakura smiled, knowing that the Hyuugas would leave her to Sasuke. However, much to her chagrin…

"I'll help Hinata-san carry these bags," Sasuke stated stoically, not even showing the slightest hint of relief on his face. Sakura's jaw dropped. _Dammit! That means-_

"Oh that's GREAT! That means I can be alone with you Sakura-chan!" Naruto beamed again. Hinata inwardly smirked while Neji snarled a little knowing that Sasuke would be following them.

"A-alright. Take care Naruto-kun, Sakura-_chan_," Hinata waved them good bye as she turned around and started to walk away. Neji nodded in acknowledgement to the departure and followed Hinata closely behind.

"See ya teme! We're going to train later ya' understand!" Naruto shouted before Sasuke turned his back on him and walked away with the Hyuugas. Naruto puffed his chest out at the Uchiha's indifferent attitude. He turned his attention to Sakura who was now apparently depressed. "What's the matter Sakura-chan? Did that teme do something to you?" Naruto growled. Sakura brought her fist down on Naruto's head.

"No he didn't Naruto! I'm going home!" Sakura screeched and stomped away, angered by the fact that her day was completely ruined by Hinata and Naruto alike. _Kami! Why am I doing this? I know Sasuke will definitely show his jealousy sooner or later. I just have to put up with Naruto for a little longer._

Naruto watched his girlfriend angrily stomp away. "Aww Sakura-chan is so cute when she's mad."

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"Uchiha, since Haruno is gone, you may leave as well," Neji flat out stated not even inclining his head toward Sasuke as he walked next to Hinata. Hinata winced a little at Neji's harsh tone. 

"If you were more of a man, maybe you would be able to help your cousin carry some of these bags," Sasuke retaliated. He noticed that Neji tensed just the slightest at his remark. 

"Why are you even interested in following us Uchiha? You used us as a means of escape, and now that you've escaped, there's no point in staying. Your presence is undesired," Neji stopped and turned around to say. 

"I actually do have an interest in staying. I need to speak to your cousin…privately." Sasuke held the bags toward Neji, implying for him to beat it and take the bags with him. Originally Sasuke had wanted to seek out Naruto to go training, but Sakura would most assuredly be around when they train so he had to cancel that plan. But Hinata had come along and he remembered promising to train her for her upcoming ANBU entrance exam. He needed something to do and he would definitely take up the opportunity to talk to his future pupil. Not to mention, he had to start practicing on _Mannerisms. _

"Whatever you may want to discuss with her does not need to be private. You two were only acquitted yesterday, what private discussion would you need?" Neji interrogated harshly but felt a jab at his side. He turned his gaze to his petite cousin as she scowled at him.

"Neji, Sasuke-san will be my tutor for the ANBU exam, and I do need to discuss with him about our training schedule. I'm sorry Neji, it'll be real quick and we can get back to hunting down items for Hanabi and father," Hinata vibrantly spoke up. Neji almost twitched at Hinata's willingness to speak to the Uchiha. 

"Fine, but remember that I have to be back soon, I have an appointment later today, Hinata." Hinata smiled understanding that Neji desired her presence and her presence alone. 

As Neji waited off to the side, Sasuke spoke quietly but firmly to Hinata. "You understand that you will be moving into the Uchiha quarters by the end of this week?" Hinata nodded. "That means that during the days where we both do not have missions, I will train you." Hinata nodded again. "Please understand that I have never in the past taken a pupil but seeing as how Itachi has already taken you in, I believe I can do a better job," Sasuke ended. Hinata nodded again. _Sighs I think Itachi-kun is the strongest ninja in the village and not some younger, stuck-up little brother will be able to beat him by the means of bettering a student that his older brother had already taught…_Hinata inwardly thought. "We will train every morning when you do not have a mission and the training session will last a good three hours. By nightfall, before supper is ready, we will train for another additional three hours. That totals six hours a day of training with me for seven days during the week unless I say so. Can you comply with that schedule?" Sasuke demanded daring her to oppose or say 'no.' Hinata nodded again. Sasuke smirked. _She probably thinks this will be an easy breeze for her. _"I wanted to discuss this with you as soon as possible because once you move into the Uchiha compound; I want to start immediately on your training. The ANBU exams are ruthless and I remember you being a little more demure; I'm quite sure not all of that has been ridden out of you yet…" Sasuke ended glancing back at her. 

Hinata didn't want to talk to Sasuke at the moment. Sure it was important to get that information but the Uchiha proved more of his arrogance through a simple chat that it simply wasn't worth the time taken. "I can comply with that Uchiha-san." She saw Sasuke smirk.

"Alright then Hyuuga, I'll see you in a week," Sasuke said as he turned and walked away. Hinata shrugged indifferently as she walked back to Neji. 

"What was that bastard saying to you?" Neji asked gripping the bags harder. Hinata saw his clenching.

"He was giving me the run-down on our training sessions. That's all Neji," she replied. Hinata took some of the bags that were in Neji's arm with one hand and held Neji's now free hand with her free hand. Hinata gave Neji a gentle smile as she led him along the market. "Let's just continue enjoying our time left before you have to leave, Neji," Hinata's eyes beamed softly. Neji gave her a small smile.

"Yea…" Neji could only muster up as he let Hinata's soft hands guide him through the village and their adventures for the day.

They continued their search for gifts for their friends and family until it became late afternoon and Neji had to go meet with his appointment for the day.

With an arm full of gifts, Hinata inclined her head toward Neji and gave him a meek smile. "I think we've spent the day well," she gave a small laugh. Neji returned the gesture and nodded. Hinata was still curious as to what Neji had to do for the rest of the day. "Neh…Neji, what are you doing after we go home?"

Neji only raised one of his brows, "Hm? Why?"

Hinata blinked. "I'm just wondering N-Neji…it's ok if you don't want to disclose it…" Hinata trailed feeling bad for trying to poke her nose to where it didn't belong. She glanced down. Neji caught her disappointed look. 

"I'm just going to see Tenten for awhile…" Neji responded stoically, "if it's any consternation to you, she asked me to help her with some new techniques and jutsus." Hinata's eyes widened. _I know he mentioned it earlier but… Neji doesn't only train me?_ She couldn't describe what she felt. Maybe it was that feeling you get when you find out you're not 'one of a kind.' Hinata didn't want to admit it, but that information somewhat struck down her gleeful spirit. _Tenten is Neji's teammate…it's expected._ Hinata tried looking up at Neji in attempts to show her approval-not that he needed one-but failed to look up.

"I'm g-glad that you are g-getting along well with your t-teammates Neji…" Hinata stuttered out. She didn't know what caused her to begin to feel nervous again, especially around Neji. Neji himself was confused about her sudden change.

"What's wrong with you now?" he asked, showing some sympathy but very little. _Why would she get mad about me training Tenten?_Hinata shook her head. "Fine, whatever," Neji out of irritation breathed out.

Hinata's eyes widened in hurt. _Did Neji care that little about her? I thought he…_"I don't understand what would make you all of a sudden hide under a rock when I tell you about me training Tenten. It's not like I do that when you go off and train with the Uchiha," Neji interrupted. Hinata looked down even more. _Yea…I guess he's right._ She tried to look up at him again but they had already walked through the front gates of the compound. She noticed that Neji started walking his separate way, away from her. 

"Wait…" Hinata managed out almost inaudibly. But much to her dismay, Neji didn't hear it and headed toward the designated branch quarters. Hinata released a sigh of near grief; she didn't understand why Neji started to act so coldly to her just now. Instead of thinking on her feet, she just drudged along to her room.

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By the next day, Itachi had already completed his mission with top notched results. Everyone returned safely and the mission was completed before the scheduled time. The rest of Itachi's ANBU team would never allow their minds to stop from being awed at Itachi's skills and talents. What may have appeared to have been a strive toward impressing others was actually a strive toward finishing the mission as soon as possible, for Itachi did not want to stay away from Hinata for too long; he had already started to miss her. 

Itachi couldn't help but allow his mind to wander to the activities that he and Hinata had indulged in the day earlier. Hoping that Hinata would not only be impressed by his desire to please her, Itachi had hoped that that activity between the two of them would allow her to see how he felt about her just a little bit. I mean, come on, a romantic picnic near a waterfall where the guy cooks and brings flowers to the girl only spelled "I FREAKIN LIKE YOU."_Maybe she's a little dense…_Itachi was hoping that Hinata would be able to see that he did hold feelings for her, at least if she realized that then it'd be easier for him to actually come out and say it. _Hopefully she does like me in return._ Itachi shook that thought away. _She does…I've been there with her for so long…she has to hold some feelings for me…_Itachi held that thought as he approached the Hokage's office with his report. 

"Glad to see that the mission was a success Uchiha-san, I hope that I haven't kept you away from much here in Konoha," Tsunade gave the elder Uchiha a smile. Tsunade didn't particularly like the Uchiha clan, simply because of Uchiha Fugaku, who held strict beliefs and standards that she personally opposed, very much akin to the Hyuuga clan. But Tsunade wouldn't hold that against members of the clans; it wasn't their fault. She did however, respect and held Itachi at a high degree. He wasn't outwardly arrogant, unlike Sasuke, and he rarely complained about much, unlike Naruto. He was a good ANBU leader and a very talented shinobi. Why, if Tsunade was younger, she probably might have given the elder Uchiha a chance._He's just so gosh darn handsome…AH! The perfect MAN. _Tsunade noticed that Itachi didn't react to anything she had just said. He had always been like that, never had Tsunade seen much of Itachi's personality. He was very quiet, not demure but had that stealthy and back shadow atmosphere around him. At least Sasuke appeared to be a normal teenager, Itachi was a very outlandish individual, and maybe that's what drew everyone unconsciously to him. 

"Yes Hokage-sama. My ANBU team and I completed the mission 3 days prior to the scheduled date, may I inquire if there will be any other missions for myself or for my team this week?" Itachi responded looking Tsunade directly in the eye. He sounded almost desperate. Seeing as how he wouldn't be seeing much of Hinata, he wanted to make sure he allowed free time to spend with her. 

It was a shock to say the least, that Itachi's actions were most definitely toward not doing anything this week. Tsunade was intrigued nonetheless. "My, my. Does the ANBU Captain have plans this week?" Tsunade gave Itachi a smirk. "And here I was just thinking that you were…slightly eccentric for not socializing around the village. But of course, you're a young man and I know that everyone needs some time to take pleasures of what is offered to them in life. Uchiha-san, you're dismissed from all duties this week. Enjoy yourself kiddo," Tsunade ended folding her fingers in front of her face. 

Itachi bowed in gratitude and simply walked out. As he closed the door, Tsunade could only wonder, "How come he doesn't have a girlfriend yet?"

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Itachi walked out of the Hokage's tower and headed toward the Uchiha compound. He rarely walked through the village unless he was accompanied by Hinata but he didn't feel like wasting energy to simply get to his home faster. It's not like he was running for his life or anything amongst that sort…or will he be?

"KYAHHHHH! ITACHI-KUUUUN!" Itachi heard from his left side as a group of girls approached him. He gave them a small inclination of his head to infer to them that he was aware of their presence.

"Nehh, Itachi-kun! Congratulations on your mission, we heard it was a success!" one female beamed.

"Where are you going Uchiha-kun, can we walk with you!" another one eagerly shouted. Itachi was not fazed at all with their excessive requests. _Is it against the rule to submerge six Konoha girls into Tsukiyomi?_ Itachi didn't have long to think as more questions erupted from the girls. 

"Hey Itachi-kun! We saw you walking with a girl earlier this week! What's up with her? Who is she huh!" one daring girl asked. All the other girls grew silent. As much as they adored Itachi, they also knew that unlike his brother, Itachi really did not mess around. He was ANBU Captain after all, and most understood that with this title also meant that that certain individual has killed over hundreds of people. To get on his bad side might simply make you his next target. They only saw that Itachi raised one of his brows. They inwardly thought how much more handsome that made him but they didn't expect the next words to come out of his mouth. 

"She is a _very _close companion of mine," he simply stated giving them a small smirk. All the girls almost melted to putty, but quickly refrained as they realized that a certain female has been able to catch his attention. 

All of the girls started screeching once again. 

"What!"

"Who is this bimbo?"

"Why do you hang out with her and not us!"

Itachi was most definitely annoyed and even a little bit angered at these girls' accusations toward Hinata when they didn't even know her. But that's how girls were. Girls that are jealous attempt to justify their jealousy by making the one that they're jealous of appear to be at fault in some manner. He certainly didn't allow people to speak ill of his loved ones, and he certainly wasn't going to allow these girls that opportunity. 

"Who the hell-" 

"I-Itachi…kun?" a soft and gentle voice cut through the air. Itachi's eyes almost widened as he realized the speaker. Itachi turned his body around to see that the one he cared most about was there behind the six girls. Hinata offered him a small smile and a slight blush, relieved to see her long time crush. Unfortunately, Itachi wasn't the only one to see the blush. 

"Hey it's HER!"

"What are you doing being all close with our Itachi-kun!"

"See! She's blushing at Itachi-kun! Don't you DARE look at him!"

Itachi's hands were already forming the seals for Susanoo but Hinata's eyes saw the movement and started panicking. _Kami Itachi no!_ "I believe I have that right when he's my boyfriend," Hinata ended but quickly covered her mouth, unbelieving of the words that had just escaped her lips. The girl's and Itachi's jaws dropped. (Well…Itachi's mouth opened _slightly_.)_Ah! Why did I say that!_ She couldn't back down so she nimbly walked toward Itachi and took one of his arms and held it. Itachi could tell she was shaking slightly and her face had turned to a dark shade of red. He felt a blush coming along but he held it down. "You're back pretty quick from your mission? I'm assuming it turned out well?" Hinata asked not even attempting to raise her head as she still felt too embarrassed. _Oh my kami, why did I say that? What will Itachi think of me?_ Hinata started to breathe faster and faster, afraid that the girls might see through her lie and start another upheaval. Itachi, sensing Hinata's discomfort and noticing that the girls were still following them, decided to take advantage of the situation to get closer to Hinata. He slowly and carefully slid one of his arms to Hinata's nicely curved waist and pulled her body closer to his in one swift motion. He felt her tense as he tightened his hold. 

"I-I-I-Itachi…-k-kun…" Hinata was about to pass out from the contact. In fact, why won't she do that just about…now. Itachi felt Hinata's body push up against his and actually managed a blush out. 

"Hinata-chan?" Itachi glanced over only to see an unconscious Hinata lying limply on his side. _This is way too tempting._ Itachi thought as he easily picked Hinata's body up bridle style and started to walk toward the Uchiha compound. With one hand, Itachi stroked Hinata's right cheek and he lowered his head to her forehead. He lightly placed chaste lips on top of Hinata's brow and left a tiny wisp of air that caused her to slightly huddle closer to Itachi's warm body. _Temptation isn't meant to be resisted at all times. _With that last thought, Itachi eagerly walked to his home.

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Gosh, what a perverted guy huh? I'm sorry if you guys didn't like this chapter as much. I've been reading other people's stories like crazy and I just cannot compare to them. (

Don't worry, many of you have reviewed saying you're not seeing a lot of NejiHina, or SasuHina, or GaaHina; just a whole hell lot of ItaHina. But! We shall get to that! Hinata hasn't made her way to the compound yet!

Sorry if you happen to see any grammatical errors. I'm still editing these by myself ..

Well enjoy! 

Read and review because those are what keep me and the story alive!

Not to mention, when I read the reviews, I know that authors should stay away from the influence of others but I actually take some of the ideas you guys give me and incorporate it into the story. I mean, all writers need ideas from something right?

GuessWHAT? I'm a GATES MILLENNIUM SCHOLAR FINALIST! A possible FULL-RIDE TO COLLEGE BABY!

I'm so happy that I might be keeping my hopes up too much. Anyhowie, Thank you ALL!

aisuruitachiwakoi.deviantart (and put a . com there but Fanfic doesn't let me) 

That's my DA account. There's NejiHina, ItaHina, SasuHina, and if you look in scraps, there's GaaHina as well. I don't think my drawings are _that_ bad so it might be worthwhile to go and have a look. 


	9. Chapter 9

Hey!

I will be releasing my new story "Convention and Insurgence" that revolves around an Itachi/Hinata, master and maid plot. In writing my story and delaying further updates on "Between Her and Them," I lost inspiration along the way but I found inspiration yet again. Like most authors, by reading other works infuses me to write my own. However, I also draw my inspiration from artwork, and more specifically in this related matter, my own artwork. For this story, I decided to help my readers with a little visual aid. Please visit my profile to get the direct link of a little sketch I made. This is not exclusively for my writing inspiration; I hope that it will inspire other writers to perhaps write something along the same plot. I am looking forward to reading your stories.

Thank you for all the support and reviews. I read and appreciate all of them!

-Aisuruitachiwakoi


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